Chinese President Xi Jinping has told a group of lawmakers from Shanghai attending this year's National People's Congress that the Chinese government has no intention of straying from its opening-up policies.
Shanghai has been the Chinese mainland's financial center for decades. It's also a leader in China's reform and opening up program.
As such, Chinese President Xi Jinping has used the opportunity during a panel discussion with lawmakers from Shanghai to outline the government's plans to keep opening the doors to more investment.
Xi Jinping called on Shanghai officials to expand opportunities within the city's Free Trade Zone (FTZ), as well as promoting more science and technology development.
"Shanghai should turn the FTZ into a zone of openness and innovation to serve the 'Belt and Road' initiative and help the country's businesses expand overseas. The city should make use of its advantage in global trade and meet the standards and rules of global trade and investment," Xi said.
Shanghai became home to China's first pilot FTZ in 2013 and thus the litmus test for new economic policies.
The Shanghai model has since been put into action in numerous other FTZs across China.
President Xi Jinping added authorities in Shanghai shouldn't be satisfied, saying they need to continue advancing the FTZ to make it more accommodating to both new industries and new people.
"We should be taking a global view to develop the Zhangjiang National Science Center to help create more advances in basic science, as well as major breakthroughs in key technologies. It's important to put emphasis on innovation policies to attract more talent as well," Xi said.
On a municipal level, Xi Jinping told the lawmakers from Shanghai they should be focusing more on making better use of the Internet and big data, suggesting a "smart city administration" will help Shanghai become a safer and cleaner international metropolis.
