By Liu Shi’an, Tian Hong, Ji Juesu, People’s Daily
On March 18, the Shanghai East Railway Station began its main construction, marking a significant milestone in developing the one-stop integrated transportation hub, the Shanghai Eastern Hub. Currently under development, the Shanghai eastern hub international business cooperation zone is set to become one of the world’s most open and globally connected regions.
Just days later, on March 27, the provisions to promote the development of free trade accounts at Shanghai’s Pudong New Area were adopted, signaling another step forward in improving the city’s financial services. Then, Auto Shanghai 2025 kicked off on April 23, attracting nearly 1,000 noted enterprises from 26 countries and regions. With more than 100 new models debuting, the event underscored the continued global confidence in China’s vast market and open development.
In recent years, Shanghai has progressively advanced a series of high-level reforms aimed at increasing openness and encouraging foreign investment. The Pudong New Area, in particular, has become a testing ground for innovative policy experiments that are later replicated nationwide.
A striking example of this transformation can be seen in the retail sector. Previously, it took over 20 days to open a new store. Today, the process has been streamlined significantly.”We can now launch right after renovations are complete, saving almost a month’s rent,” said an executive of a coffee chainin Pudong. The changes allowed the company to open 130 new outlets in just a year.
The overhaul of industry access approval procedures in Pudong has been particularly notable. In the past, a convenience store had to secure five separate licenses – covering food safety, tobacco retail, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices – a process that took around 95 working days.
Now, under the new “single license for entry” and “market access with commitment” systems, creditworthy businesses can obtain licenses on the spot by submitting necessary documents and signing a written commitment. With just one comprehensive license, businesses now face significantly reduced processing times, fewer documentation requirements, and a streamlined application process, making it far easier to enter the market.
The reform momentum extends beyond retail to high-tech industries as well. A groundbreaking example of this is the recent application of CAR-T cell therapy, a cutting-edge cancer treatment, in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, facilitated by a new regulatory model for the transport of biomedical products.
CAR-T cell therapy demands precise temperature control and timely transport for both blood samples and the therapy product itself. The logistic chain for CAR-T cell therapyinvolves 15 different authorities, including health and drug regulatory agencies, ensuring stringent oversight at every stage.
In March 2022, Shanghai became the first in China to pilot a joint regulatory mechanism for biomedical products. This innovative system incorporates risk assessment, pre-approval and full-process traceability, creating a more efficient framework for the transport and use of specialized medical treatments.
Fosun Kairos,one of the pioneering enterprises in the program, received a request for CAR-T therapy from a Hong Kong patient earlier this year. Thanks to the streamlined procedures, Shanghai Customs completed the entire approval process in just two working days. The patient’s apheresis sample was then transported from Hong Kong to Shanghai, with the entire process – from landing to customs clearance – taking only four hours.
Today, nearly a third of China’s clinical R&D pipelines in the cell and gene therapy sector are based in Pudong, and three of the nine CAR-T therapies approved globally are developed there.
“This rapid clearance has not only set a model for future medical exports but opened up new possibilities for international medical services,” said an official with the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.
As Shanghai deepens its reform and opening up efforts, the need for strong legal protections has become increasingly critical. To this end, Shanghai has enacted 23 local regulations for Pudong, covering areas such as market entity registration and innovation-driven development. Additionally, the city has introduced 34 administrative measures on streamlining business registration and enhancing mechanisms for resolving foreign-related commercial disputes. Together, these initiatives are steadily fostering a rules-based, predictable, and business-friendly environment both in Pudong and across Shanghai.
