Shanghai’s Yangpu district eyes smaller tech firms to complete its growing digital ecosystem

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‘Luring a giant firm to set up its business is not enough to spur our digital economy,’ says party secretary

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Once viewed as a ‘rust belt’ with industries like shipbuilding, textiles and power generation at its heart, Yangpu has evolved into an area driven by technology businesses. Photo: Shutterstock

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 7:00pm, 14 Jun 2024

Shanghai’s northeastern Yangpu district, which has already attracted Big Tech firms such as food delivery giant Meituan and video-sharing platform Bilibili, has set its sights on smaller technology businesses to form an ecosystem for its growing digital economy.

Xue Kan, the Communist Party secretary for Yangpu, once known for its heavy industries, told reporters at a media briefing on Friday that the district is trying to achieve a “cluster effect” by fully mobilising capital, talent and technologies to drive innovation and bolster the local economy.

“We are pursuing the creation of 12 industrial chains related to digital technologies,” he said, referring to the chains of companies that play a part in the operations of a big tech platform, such as online payment providers and delivery firms. “Luring a giant firm to set up its business is not enough to spur our digital economy.”

He said artificial intelligence and internet technology will be the two key areas in which Yangpu looks to build world-class businesses amid Shanghai’s efforts to turn itself into a tech innovation hub.

The party secretary did not elaborate on which technology start-ups or software developers Yangpu is targeting, but he said companies in the traditional manufacturing sector are also welcome because their businesses can be digitalised to improve manufacturing and marketing efficiency.

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Once viewed as a “rust belt” with industries like shipbuilding, textiles and power generation at its heart, Yangpu, with a population of 1.2 million, has evolved into an area driven by technology businesses from e-commerce and delivery service platforms to computer software design companies.