Shanghai's Pudong cements tech powerhouse status as pioneering industries surge

Pudong New Area in east China's Shanghai is reinforcing its position as a leading hub for innovation, with significant advancements reported in its three pillar industries, namely integrated circuits (IC), biomedicine and artificial intelligence (AI).

This progress was highlighted at the Pudong sub-forum of the 8th Hongqiao International Economic Forum held in Shanghai on Thursday.

The IC sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth. Data for the period from January to September 2025 showed exports of electronic components had reached 20.6 billion U.S. dollars, a 7.4-percent increase year on year, contributing stability to the global supply chain.

Pudong has, notably, essentially established a self-sufficient industrial chain -- spanning design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, equipment, materials and EDA software, with an overall scale of 41 billion U.S. dollars, said Wu Jincheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government and mayor of Pudong New Area.

In the field of biomedicine, meanwhile, Pudong has become a magnet for enterprises, hosting over 4,000 companies. Innovation in this sector is accelerating -- with business development transactions for innovative drugs having reached a substantial 20.4 billion U.S. dollars.

The AI landscape in Pudong is equally dynamic. Its Zhangjiang Mobility Community, operational for just 14 months, has already attracted more than 150 specialized large-model companies. Beyond AI, Pudong is aggressively pursuing future industries -- having opened over 1,000 kilometers of high-level autonomous driving test roads and established the world's first 6G outdoor trial environment.