Shanghai looking to far future for industrial development

Shanghai will seek breakthroughs in flying technology by advancing research and manufacturing of manned electric flying machines that can take off and land vertically, as well as engage in exploration of air traffic in the coming decade, an official said on Wednesday.

This is part of the East China cosmopolis' ambition to have its future industry output value reach 500 billion yuan ($69.93 billion) by 2030, said Wu Jincheng, director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization, during a news conference on Wednesday.

Shanghai is striving to develop itself into an innovative highland for future industries with global influence to gain the driving forces for the city's modern industrial development.

The city unveiled a concrete plan for the development of future industries earlier this year. The action plan of making Shanghai the highland for future industrial clusters conforms to the national strategy and fits the global development trend of cutting-edge technologies, Wu said.

According to Wu, cutting-edge industrial clusters engaged in the future businesses of healthcare, smart business, energy, space and materials will be cultivated in the coming decade, and frontier fields of brain-computer interface, gene and cell therapy, intelligent computing, 6G technology, new energy storage and high performance composite materials will be planned.

These technologies are picked according to five criteria: whether it is cutting edge technology, a breakthrough of demand, if it has an overthrowing influence, strategic value, or explosive prospects, Wu said.

"If the city's three leading industries and six key industries represent the current Shanghai, the newly identified priority sectors of digital economy, low-carbon, metaverse and smart device represent Shanghai's near future. The future industries indicate the city's outlook for the far future. These areas' convergence will bring new content and driving forces for Shanghai's modern industrial development," Wu said.