The Shanghai delegation to the 19th CPC National Congress holds a panel discussion on Oct 19, during which Ying Yong, mayor of Shanghai, answers questions about the construction of the city's scientific and technological innovation center. [Photo/WeChat account: zjpark]

A core task of Shanghai's scientific and technological innovation center is to build the Zhangjiang Comprehensive National Science Center, said Ying Yong, mayor of Shanghai, on Oct 19.  

The remarks were made at a panel discussion attended by delegates from Shanghai to the 19th CPC National Congress, during which Ying answered questions about the construction of the city's scientific and technological innovation center.

The establishment of Zhangjiang Comprehensive National Science Center will include building a batch of world-leading large scientific facilities and gathering top-rated scientific research institutions and innovation teams.

A 94-square-kilometer science city is planned to be built in Zhangjiang, a significant step to develop Zhangjiang into a national science center.

Ying also said that the construction of the Shanghai scientific and technological innovation center is a national strategy and is key to the city's development.

He regarded enterprises and research institutes to be major forces in the construction of the innovation center. Therefore, the city has launched a series of measures to build an open economy and to encourage more foreign-funded R&D centers to contribute to the city's scientific development.

Currently, the city has more than 610 global headquarters and regional headquarters of multinationals, and over 418 foreign-funded R&D centers.

Moreover, to attract top minds from all over the world to help the city reach its goal of becoming an innovation center, an abundance of preferential policies have been issued.

The Zhangjiang Comprehensive National Science Center forms a core part of the construction of Shanghai's scientific and technological innovation center. [Photo/WeChat account: zjpark]