Shanghai boosts service sector for tech-driven growth, consumption

The high-quality development of the service industry in Shanghai should aim for better serving technology advancement and boosting consumption, according to a new guideline released by the municipal government.

Made up of 31 detailed measures, the new guideline, released on Monday, said that the service sector should further consolidate its role as an economic driver, seek new growth momentum, better stimulate consumption and create a quality ecosystem.

While the service industry contributed 78.2 percent to Shanghai's GDP last year, equaling to over 4.2 trillion yuan ($580 billion), and managed to achieve 5.7 percent year-on-year growth, the number of high-level service providers is still limited while the services provided not diversified enough, Qiu Wenjin, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission said on a press briefing on Monday.

The service providers have not invested enough in digitalization and their overall international competitiveness still awaits improving. Meanwhile, there is still much room of growth for the service industry to contribute to consumption, said Qiu.

It is against that backdrop that the new guideline has been released. For the service providers that can stabilize growth, generate more job opportunities and expand consumption, such as information service, technology service, entertainment, healthcare and catering, more attention has been attached in the new guideline, he added.

To address the development needs of new quality productive forces, the construction of high-quality incubators, proof-of-concept centers and other platforms for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements will be supported. Large language model companies are supported to set up industrial funds. Technology service companies and institutions will be accessible to the city's special technology loan to reduce their costs, according to the new guidelines.

In addition, universities and research institutes are encouraged to establish the operating model under which ownership, operation and income rights of technology achievements are separated, according to the guidelines.

Efforts will be made to introduce more service industry leaders, according to Qiu Wei, chief engineer of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization. Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference 2025, which is scheduled on Mar 25, will help to introduce more quality information technology service companies and industrial service providers so that a complete industrial chain can be built in Shanghai. More new quality productive forces in the service sector will be thus nurtured, she said.

Besides, industrial companies are encouraged to deepen their cooperation with leading internet companies and e-commerce platforms like Xiaohongshu and Pinduoduo in terms of online marketing. Hopefully, the industrial companies can explore more consumption outlets in this way, Qiu said.

New types of information products will be provided in Shanghai, said Qiu. Finance, education, healthcare and manufacturing will be the major industries seeking AI application scenarios. As to professional service providers specializing in metaverse-related technologies, such as extended reality smart devices, will be nurtured in the city, she added.

Luo Zhisong, chief economist of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, also pointed out that the inadequate supply of service-related products cannot fully explore the consumption potential. Therefore, Shanghai will create high-quality, diversified and complex service consumption scenarios.

New models, such as housekeeping integrated with property management services, housekeeping integrated with elderly care, and property management services integrated with other daily life services, have already emerged in Shanghai. Under such logic, tourism, sports and healthcare can be added with other service consumption, he said.