The significance of Shanghai World Expo to China’s economic development

Shihua Financial News The 600-day countdown to the Shanghai World Expo has begun. Analysts believe that the World Expo is another driving force for China's economy after the Olympic Games. Its hosting will promote the industrial upgrading of Shanghai and even the entire Yangtze River Delta, and promote further integration of the regional economy. It will also provide certain support for the Chinese economy, which is in a downward trend.

The 600-day countdown to the opening of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in China is September 8th. As of the 7th, a total of 177 sovereign countries and 44 international organizations have confirmed their participation in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo (referred to as the Shanghai World Expo). The Chinese government's goal of inviting 200 countries and international organizations to participate in the Expo has been achieved ahead of schedule.

Since the first exhibition was held in London in 1851, the World Expo has developed rapidly and is known as the "Olympic event in the fields of economy, science and technology, and culture." The current World Expo held in Shanghai is a registered world expo, held every five years and lasting for half a year. As a comprehensive expo, its impact will be far greater than the earlier professional world expos held in Kunming and Shenyang.

Recently, discussions about whether domestic economic growth will be sluggish after the Beijing Olympics have been in the press. In fact, as World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu said, China’s economy will not be depressed after the Olympics. Here are the reasons First, after the Olympics, Shanghai will host the 2010 World Expo and Guangzhou will host the 2012 Asian Games. The continuous activities require a lot of fixed asset investment. Therefore, we can be sure that after the Olympics, China will not experience an economic depression due to reduced investment.

Hong Hao, director of the Shanghai World Expo Affairs Coordination Bureau, said that the total budget of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo was 28.6 billion yuan, including 18 billion yuan in construction costs and 10.6 billion yuan in operating costs. A research report by Guotai Junan pointed out that the Shanghai World Expo will also drive investment in related industries reaching 270 billion yuan.

Zhang Jintao, an analyst at Guotai Junan, told Shihua Financial News that this World Expo is a catalyst for Shanghai’s economy and a fusion agent for the Yangtze River Delta region. Its holding is conducive to the upgrading of the industrial structure and industrial level in Shanghai, and will also promote the development of the service industry in the Yangtze River Delta. It can also take this opportunity to promote the integration of major infrastructure in the Yangtze River Delta region, establish a unified market system, and at the same time enhance the regional level of external communication. It is foreseeable that the World Expo will be an important opportunity for the development of the Yangtze River Delta region, and more promotion measures will inevitably be introduced in the next two years.

Statistics show that the economic growth of both Shanghai and the entire Yangtze River Delta region has declined to a certain extent. Shanghai's economic growth in the first half of 2008 was 10.3%, down 2.7 percentage points year-on-year, and lower than the national average of 10.4%; fixed asset investment in the whole society only increased 2.3% year-on-year, down 7.3 percentage points. In the first half of the year, the average regional GDP growth rate of the 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region was 12.8%, down 2.3 percentage points year-on-year; fixed asset investment in the whole society increased by 16.2% year-on-year, far lower than the national rate of 26.3%.

Analysts believe that the economy of the entire Yangtze River Delta region will take advantage of the Shanghai World Expo to reverse its decline. Considering the leading role of the Yangtze River Delta region, China's economy, which is in a downward trend, will also gain certain support. First of all, the construction work of the World Expo is ongoing. The second half of 2008 and 2009 will be a period of intensive construction, so investment in fixed assets will increase, which will in turn drive economic growth. Secondly, the World Expo will bring 70 million domestic and foreign tourists during its half-year period, which will obviously greatly promote the development of tourism and related industries. According to Guotai Junan's research report, about 35% will be extended tourism, thus driving the development of tourism in the entire Yangtze River and even South China.

Yang Xiong, deputy mayor of Shanghai, pointed out that the World Expo will promote Shanghai not only for Shanghai, but also for the whole country and the Yangtze River Delta region. Zhang Jintao said that the Olympic Games will demonstrate China's national prestige, but the World Expo will boost China's economy.

Looking at the previous World Expos, there are three that are comparable to the Shanghai World Expo in terms of scale. The GDP growth rate of the host country was relatively good in the two years before the launch. The 1970 Osaka World Expo greatly promoted Japan's economic structural adjustment and the integration of the Osaka economic circle; the 1992 Seville World Expo enabled the previously relatively backward areas of southern Spain to develop rapidly; the 2000 World Expo in Hannover, Germany, promoted The economic recovery of Lower Saxony.

The significance of the Shanghai World Expo is actually not limited to before and during the event. Zhong Yanqun, full-time deputy director of the Shanghai World Expo Executive Committee, recently pointed out that the hosting of the World Expo will lead to the improvement of the environment and people's living conditions, the upgrading of enterprise development space and technology, and the optimization of supporting facilities and infrastructure. More importantly, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo will have great potential to promote the entire Yangtze River Delta region, and this positive impact will last for more than ten years, or even decades.

International Online Report (Reporter Wang Baoquan): As the Shanghai World Expo approaches, the international community is paying more and more attention to this international event and China. Brunetta, the Italian Minister of Public Administration and Innovation, recently said in an interview with our reporter that the hosting of the Shanghai World Expo will have a profound impact on the economic development of China and the world.

Brunetta first said in the interview that the reason why China was able to win the right to host the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai World Expo is the result of China's sustained economic development in recent years. He said that the Shanghai World Expo has a deeper significance. He said: "The hosting of the Shanghai World Expo not only represents the international community's quantitative recognition of China's modernization, because her GDP has grown at a rate of about 10% over the years, but also represents the international community's qualitative recognition of China's modernization. Recognition of modernization, because the Shanghai World Expo is closely related to creativity and innovation. Generally speaking, the world believes that China's development has gone through three stages: in the first stage, China was a sleeping country; in the second stage, China began to wake up. Understand the world outside itself; in the third stage, China has become an important part of world economic growth, a stabilizing force in geopolitics, and a factor in the development of world knowledge, culture, new technologies, and social civilization. Countries around the world are thinking about how to use China. The Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai World Expo are two important moments that represent a new understanding of China by the world. ”

Brunetta. It is undeniable that the World Expo will leave a large amount of infrastructure in Shanghai, but the legacy of the World Expo is not limited to these, but will also have a more profound impact on China's economic development. He said: "When the Shanghai World Expo ends in October, Shanghai will have a network of relationships connected to all parts of the world. Because millions of people will come to Shanghai during the World Expo, including visitors. First of all, entrepreneurs and Businessmen will come, and after the Expo is over, the connections between professionals, people, cultures, economies and companies will still continue if there are 100,000 Chinese companies and 100,000 foreign companies during the Expo. This dialogue will not end with the end of the World Expo, but will continue. This is very important for both Shanghai and China. The purpose of huge investment in events like the World Expo is production. A kind of 'relationship asset' or 'relationship network product'. When we integrate people, culture, and enterprises for trade and innovation, this relationship asset becomes a kind of value. ”

As a government official, especially an economist, Brunetta also believes that the Shanghai World Expo is also of great significance to the current development of the world economy. He said: "The Shanghai World Expo seems to be a ray of sunshine emerging in the darkness for the world in crisis. From a quantitative perspective, it is difficult to say that the World Expo can increase the world economy by a few percentage points; but from a symbolic perspective, it is of great significance. It is like seeing a lighthouse in the distance while sailing on a stormy sea. Although it is still in the wind and rain, it has seen light. For the world economy, the Shanghai World Expo is like this ray of sunshine that brings hope and the future. The transition period from the end of the world economic crisis to a new period of development is very favorable in terms of time. All of this benefits from the modernization and technological innovation of China and Shanghai."

Brunetta also believes that the Shanghai World Expo. It is a good opportunity for Italy to show the world its technological essence, especially its creativity. Ordinary product output can only achieve wealth transfer, while creative output can achieve a win-win situation. To this end, as the Italian government official responsible for innovation affairs, he will lead a delegation to Shanghai to hold the "Italian Innovation Exhibition" during the Shanghai World Expo. He said: "I will lead a delegation composed of more than 250 companies. China. These companies are selected through a creative competition, including public and private large, medium and small companies, and they will bring their innovative products to China. These innovative products involve the Italian lifestyle and the culture of Italian manufacturing. etc. My aim is to connect these ideas with the world, especially with the Chinese economy, through business. I hope that through this marriage we can establish a partnership, a joint venture, even after the Shanghai World Expo. There is also an annual competition to select 250 innovative companies to showcase Italian genius to the world. I call this event 'Shanghai' because it starts in this city.

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