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Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone based in Pudong, Shanghai's vibrant
central business district (CBD), is rapidly building itself into a true
global business district, but requires more support.
"The conglomeration effect of Lujiazui has taken effect as more and
more financial institutions are attracted here," said a source from the
newly-established Pudong Finance Office.
According to data provided by the office, by the end of September, 161
financial institutions, 87 domestic and 74 foreign, had settled in
Lujiazui.
The number and assets value of foreign banks settled in Lujiazui
account for 30 per cent and 56 per cent respectively of the total foreign
banks with presence in China.
At present, the city has 23 fund companies, 19 of which have based
their offices in Lujiazui.
In 2003, the gross domestic product value in Lujiazui reached 14.7
billion yuan (US$1.78 billion) per square kilometre according to data
provided by the office.
As planned, Lujiazui will offer 4 million square metres of office area,
including both the 337,000-square metre World Finance Centre to be
completed in 2007, and the 220,000-square metre Sun Hung Kai Project to be
completed by 2008.
Shanghai's present use of space by international financial corporations
is around 160,000 square metres while that in Hong Kong's financial
district is 1,000,000 square metres, and over 20 million square metres on
Wall Street in the United States.
"An aggressive level of expansion in China by foreign financial
institutions, resulting from the opening of the financial sector
subsequent to the end of the Chinese Government's Tenth-five Year Plan,
will create more need for space," said Remy Chan, Head of Commercial
Business for Jones Lang LaSalle Shanghai, a leading global real estate
firm.
"We are sure there will be a soaring demand for offices as
multinationals keep swarming into the area," he said.
In 2004, the agency secured over 20,000 square metres of office space
in Lujiazui for a number of leading corporations.
Compared with Nanjing Road or Huaihai Road, the so-called CBD areas in
the old part of Shanghai, Chan said Lujiazui is of bigger potential to
become successful as it develops as a district while the others develop as
merely a street.
Despite the overwhelming optimism about the future
of Pudong's commercial market, there are still some drawbacks
that should not be
overlooked.
Chan pointed out that the river-crossing transportation infrastructure
and relative isolation of the office buildings in Lujiazui are both
bottlenecks to be broken.
"Other particular concerns are commercial facilities as well as overall
environment," Chan said.
He suggests that the creation of a more integrated infrastructure may
help address the above concerns, which the government of Pudong New Area
should take into careful consideration.
Chan was
echoed by many officials and scholars at the recently held China
Shanghai E-CBD Forum.
(China Daily) | 
Updated: 2004-12-27 10:54
