PreparationworkondevelopingandopeningupPudongstartedinthe1980s.Theauthortookpartinthepreliminaryexplorationstudywithfocusonlegislativeworkanddeterminingthedegreeofopeningofthenewarea.Hepersonallyexperiencedconsiderablehardshipsduringthedecades-longconstructionofPudongNewArea.
Atthecriticaltimeofnationaldevelopment,onlyreformcanboostmomentum.Andreformmustfittheglobaltrend.
OneofChina鈥檚mostin铿倁entialfinancialcenters,Shanghai鈥檚Lujiazuihousesheadquartersofmanymultinationalbanks鈥機hineseandEastAsianbranches.ItisalsoaniconofChina鈥檚modernization,reformandopeningup.byXuWanglinPositioning:SetinShanghai,FacetheWorld
InJuly1987,ProfessorTungYenLin,aChinese-AmericanstructuralengineerbasedinSanFrancisco,wrotealonglettertoJiangZemin,thenmemberofthePoliticalBureauoftheCentralCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)andShanghaimunicipalPartysecretary,proposingtodevelopandopenupPudongandelaboratingonthebenefitsofsuchopennessinShanghaitofacetheworld.JiangcarefullyexaminedhisproposalanddesignatedaspecialgrouptoconductresearchonPudong鈥檚developmentandopeningup.Thisgroupcomprisedexpertsfromrelevantfields.Atthattime,Ihadjustearnedmymaster鈥檚degreefromtheInternationalEconomicLawDepartmentatShanghaiInstituteofForeignTrade(today鈥檚ShanghaiUniversityofInternationalBusinessandEconomics)andwasstayingonthereasateacher.ThankstomyEnglish-languageskillsandexperienceworkinginanAmericanlawfirm,Iwasluckyenoughtoberecruitedintotheteam.
TheprimarytaskofthisgroupwastostudythepositioningofthePudongarea.Forexample,wehadtodecidewhethertoselectjustonecornerofPudongasapilotorusetheentireareaasthetestfield.Weresearchedwhetheritwouldbebettertoopenupafewsectorsfirstoreveryindustryatonce.Everythingstartedfromscratchforus鈥攁llofthemembersofthegroupwerepart-timeandworkedinatemporaryofficethrowntogetherinoneofthecorrugatedironshedsnexttotheShanghaimunicipalgovernmentbuilding.Butwehadastrongsenseofhistoricmissionandresponsibility,whichinspiredustostayfullyandpassionatelyengaged.Atthattime,wedidnothavemuchdomesticexperiencetodrawfrom,sotheinternationalexperiencefromProfessorTung-YenLinandsomeofhisfriendswasparticularlyvaluable.
ThegroupbelievedthatthedevelopmentandopeningupofPudongshouldbeanchoredinShanghaibutembracetheworldwithaneyeonmodernization,ITapplication,ruleoflawandmarket-orientation.Theteamproposedthatthenewareafeature鈥渟mallgovernment(conciseandefficientadministration),bigsociety(societyandmarketplaymajorroles)andmanyenterprises(bothdomesticandforeignbusinessstandouts)鈥漚ndthatthedevelopmentandopeningupofPudongstartfromonesectorbeforegraduallyspreadingthroughthewholearea.Mydutybackthenwastoinvestigateexactlyhowopenthenewareashouldbeandhowtolegislateit.Atthetime,Chinaalreadyhadfourspecialeconomiczonesfeaturingmanymeasuresofreformandopeningup.AlthoughHainanProvincewasnotyetaspecialeconomiczone,ithadalreadyreleasedatleast30policiesrelatedtoopeningup.SowealsowenttoHainantolearn.Ingeneral,domestically,westudiedspecialeconomiczones,whileinternationallywesoughttorestoreShanghai鈥檚formerreputationas鈥淧arisoftheFarEast.鈥漈hankstothearea鈥檚culturalandcreativeresources,thebookstoreinZhangjiangScienceCityhasbecomeaculturallandmarkofShanghai鈥檚ZhangjiangHi-TechPark.byQiaoZhenqiLegislation:ToProtectandImprove
RuleoflawwasalwaysthefoundationofPudong鈥檚developmentandopeningup.InearlyJuly1990,China鈥檚centralgovernmentdispatchedadelegationofChinesemayorsheadedbyaministerial-levelofficialtotheUnitedStates,accompaniedbyfivelocalShanghaischolars.Again,IwasfortunatetobeamongthemandtaskedwithstudyinglegislationandtheextentofPudong鈥檚openness.
OnApril18,1990,thenChinesePremierLiPengformallyannouncedtheestablishmentofPudongNewArea.OurdelegationsetoffonJuly7andarrivedinNewYorkCityfirst,whereweheldasymposium.Attheevent,anAmericanreporterdoubtedwhetherPudong鈥檚10preferentialpoliciesthatonlyfitinacornernewspapercolumncouldpromoteitsopenness.Andforeignenterpriseswoulddarenotventuretherewithoutlegalguarantees.ZhuRongji,thenmayorofShanghai(laterChinesePremier)respondedwitharesoluteanddecisiveanswer:鈥淲ewilldefinitelypasslawstoprotecttheprogressofPudong鈥檚openingupaswellastheinterestsofforeigninvestors.鈥滱ssoonashereturnedtoShanghaiinlateJuly,ZhubegantoacceleratePudong鈥檚legislativework.Toenableoverseasinvestorstograsptheessenceoflawsfromtheoutset,thelawsthatwerepassedwererequiredtobepublishedinChinese,EnglishandJapanese.
Iwaschosenasamemberofthelegislationteamandlater,thefinalizeroftheEnglishversionofthelaw.Thatsummer,wesloggedlongdaysatworkintheroomsofChunshenjiangHotel.WhenIwasknee-deepinlegislativework,Ialwayskepttwowordsinmymind:protectionandpromotion,whichIfeltrepresentedthemainfunctionofthelaw.ThefourthphaseofShanghai鈥檚YangshanDeep-WaterPortistheworld鈥檚largestunmannedcontainerterminal,withthehighestdegreeofautomation.byQiaoZhenqiReform:FittingWorldTrends
WithPudong鈥檚developmentandopeningupontherighttrack,ourgroupwasdismissedwhenotherorganshadahandleonpromotingthenewarea鈥檚developmentwithsubstantialmeasures.By2000afterthecompletionofseveraltrials,itwasclearthatsystem,mechanismandruleoflawshouldbeadvancedsidebysideinPudong.Andweknewthatrunningthedevelopmentzonewithanadministrativecommitteemightworkwellforatime,butwouldnotlastlong.SoPudongneededtosetupagoverningbody.
InAugust2000,thegovernmentofPudongNewAreawasestablished.WhileIwasvicepresidentofShanghaiInstituteofForeignTrade,IwasrecruitedtoserveasdeputychiefofPudongNewArea.IwassurprisedandworriedbecauseeventhoughIwasdoingwellatmypositionandhadachievedsomeacademicaccolades,Ididn鈥檛thinkIwasqualifiedtoserveasdeputychiefofPudongNewArea.Suchapostseemedwaytoochallenging.
StillIagreedtostepupandacceptthechallenge.Atthattime,Iwastheonlyofficialwithoutpartyaffiliation(IlaterjoinedtheChinaNationalDemocraticConstructionAssociation)inthegovernmentofPudongNewArea.Butmycolleaguesgavemegreatsupportandtrustallthesame.Iwasinchargeofthreesectors:Lujiazui,whichisnowaniconofChina鈥檚modernization,reformandopeningup;Waigaoqiaobondedarea,whichiscurrentlyanimportantpartofChina(Shanghai)PilotFreeTradeZone;andthesocialdevelopmentbureau,whichcoveredsectorsincludingeducation,publichealth,civilaffairsandsports.Mysecretarymanaged27filingcabinetsforeachofmyduties.
IsummarizedPudong鈥檚mainworkbacktheninfourwords:legislation,planning,high-caliberprofessionalsandcapital.Since1992,Shanghaipresentedaplantobecometheeconomic,financialandtradecenterofthecountry.In1998,ashippingcenterwasaddedtothewishlist,andShanghaiisnowpoisedtoreachthisgoalby2020.TheCPCCentralCommitteedemandedthatShanghaibecomeapioneerofthemarketeconomy,sustainabledevelopmentandruleoflaw.Inthenewera,PresidentXiJinpingalsohopesthatShanghaicontinuescarryingthetorchofChina鈥檚reformandopeningupandservingasabellwetherofsustainabledevelopment.IthinktheseareveryimportantforthepositioningofShanghai.
Atthiscriticalstageofnationaldevelopment,onlyreformcanfurtherboostmomentum.Andthereformhastofittheglobaltrend.TheeffectsofPudong鈥檚developmentandopeningupwere,inshort,relievingthepressureimposedbyWesterncountriesheadedbytheUnitedStatesatthetime,buildinguptheconfidenceoftheChinesepeople,settingamodelforChina鈥檚reformandopeningupandmakingpreparationforChina鈥檚entryintotheWorldTradeOrganization(WTO).Weneedreform,andourreformisongoingandunending.Reformrefersnotonlytostreamliningadministrativeorgansbutalsoseizingtheopportunitiesthatourpredecessorsmissed.
Pudong鈥檚experienceshowsusnogreatachievementsareeasyandreformrequiresconcertedefforts,courage,passionanddetermination.Withtheloveforourcountryandpeople,wecanmakeanythingpossible.
TheauthorisamemberoftheStandingCommitteeoftheNationalCommitteeoftheChinesePeople鈥檚PoliticalConsultativeConference(CPPCC),China鈥檚toppoliticaladvisorybody,vicechairmanoftheCPPCCShanghaiCommitteeandvicechairmanoftheCentralCommitteeofChinaNationalDemocraticConstructionAssociation.