Shanghai's Pudong New Area becomes a major driving force behind China's innovation-driven development. [Photo by Xu Wanglin/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the start of development and opening-up in Shanghai's Pudong New Area. The area plans to continue deepening high-level opening-up and working toward greater international cooperation and competition.

Pudong New Area, the country's first State-level new area, began its efforts to reform and open up in April 1990. The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the country's first FTZ, was officially unveiled in Pudong in September 2013.

Over the past 30 years, the area has grown into a major driving force behind China's innovation-driven development.

The area has since become a popular destination for global investors, and is now home to over 1,000 financial institutions, over 300 regional headquarters of multinational companies, and more than 240 foreign-invested research and development centers.

The institutional innovations carried out in the area have greatly contributed to the growth of Pudong, such as the negative list for foreign investors and the subscribed capital registration mechanism. A total of 328 innovative measures taken in Pudong have been replicated and promoted nationwide.

Pudong's continuous innovative efforts have led to the emergence of many high-tech enterprises, and several advanced tech industries are booming in the area, including Chinese Chips, Flying Dream, Innovative Drugs, Future Cars, Smart Manufacturing, and Data Port.

Statistics show that Pudong is now home to more than 10,000 innovative enterprises, and as of the end of 2019, a total of 574 research and development institutions had been established in the area.

The Shanghai government released guidelines last year to promote high-quality development amid the new round of reform and opening-up, specifying that Pudong's GDP should exceed 2 trillion yuan ($305.8 billion) in seven years' time.