A higher level of opening-up implemented in a more extensive manner should be seen in Pudong New Area in order for it to become a driver for Shanghai's high-quality economic growth, said the city's Party secretary Li Qiang at a forum held on Saturday.

Li, who was attending a parallel session of the fourth Hongqiao International Economic Forum - a part of fourth China International Import Expo – pointed out that more attention should be devoted to conducting basic scientific research and seeking breakthroughs in core technologies.

To achieve this, companies and institutions in Pudong should deepen their cooperation with their international peers so that they can be on the same page when it comes to innovation. The area should at the same time accelerate its digital transformation and help nurture world-class innovative industrial clusters at a faster pace, he said.

Pudong should also deepen systematic reform in related areas and seek greater innovation in policies so as to become a highland for talents that can gather the top scientists, technology leaders, innovation teams and talents from all industries, Li added.

According to the guideline jointly released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on July 15, Pudong is set to pioneer China's socialist modernization and higher level of reform and opening-up.

The area will also serve as a strategic link between the domestic and international markets.Industrial clusters for big data, new energy vehicles, chipmaking, smart manufacturing, biomedicine and civil aviation have already taken shape in Pudong, with each of their annual industrial output exceeding 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion) last year, said Hang Yingwei, governor of Pudong New Area. 

In the first three quarters of the year, Pudong reported double-digit growth in major economic indicators such as export value, major infrastructure investment and total retail value of consumer goods. The area's GDP growth for the first three quarters was 10.8 percent.

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which covers most of Pudong, should be the testing grounds for higher level reform and opening-up. Lin-gang Special Area - the newly added part of the FTZ - should also be turned into a special economic zone, said Hang.

"Since the last CIIE, we have been able to develop our relationship with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Over the last two years, we have transferred 100 percent of our offshore businesses back to Shanghai," said Maximilian Foerst, president and managing director of Zeiss China, which set up its China headquarters in Pudong six years ago.

Global asset management giant Fidelity International set up its first China office in Pudong in 2004. The Pudong operation was upgraded to the country headquarters 11 years later. 

Rajeev Mittal, managing director for Fidelity International Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, said that the industrial ecosystem built in Shanghai has facilitated the development of asset management companies.

"More importantly, the support you get from the government makes things efficient," he said.