Foreign news

Pudong 30 years on: Epitome of China’s modernization and opening-up

Published

5 years ago

November 13, 2020

Pudong, a district east of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, has been transformed from desolate farmland to a major growth engine of the east China metropolis and an embodiment of China’s modernization and opening-up. It has become a model for the rest of the country on how to launch reforms and achieve high-quality development in a new era.

Having been supported by the continued reforms and experiments over the past 30 years, Pudong, though it accounts for only 1/8000 of China’s total land area, is a powerhouse contributing 1/80 of the country’s GDP and 1/15 of total imports and exports.

The area’s GDP surged 211 times from 6 billion yuan ($900 million) in 1990 to over 1.2 trillion yuan in 2019. Its total foreign investment has reached $103 billion and it has gathered over 36,000 foreign-funded enterprises and headquarters of 350 multinational companies from 170 countries and regions, data from the Pudong government showed.

Displaying financial strength

Shanghai is China’s financial hub and an international financial center, while Pudong is the core area showcasing the city’s financial strength.

Lujiazui, a world-renowned financial center, was developed shortly after the opening-up of Pudong. Lujiazui Financial Zone is a testament to the development and reform of China’s financial sector over the past 30 years. More than 860 financial institutions licensed by China’s banking, securities and insurance regulators, as well as their subsidiaries and branches, have offices in the zone.

DBS Bank, a Singaporean multinational financial services group, set up its first representative office in China 27 years ago and was among the first group of foreign-funded banks in China with headquarters in Lujiazui.

Ginger Cheng, head of Institutional Banking Group, DBS China, told CGTN that Shanghai’s financial market is well-established with a lot of advanced products and services, compared with other international financial markets like New York and Hong Kong.

“I see the further opening-up [in Shanghai], for example the free trade zone, the further relaxation of foreign shareholding in the financial segment. These give someone like us, an international bank, a lot of opportunities in the future,” Cheng said on the sidelines of the ongoing third China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Pioneer of reform and opening-up

In 2005, China approved Pudong as a comprehensive supporting reform pilot area to carry out comprehensive reform and set an example for the rest of the country.

In 2013, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) was established. Then, China first piloted the negative list in the Shanghai FTZ with 190 items listed that set out those off-limits sectors to foreign investors. Later, the country kept shortening the list to make it more adaptable to the business environment.

With strong policy support, Pudong is an ideal place for attracting foreign investment. In June 2019, Shanghai’s municipal government issued Opinions on Supporting the Reform and Opening-up of Pudong New Area in a bid for attracting more high-quality foreign capital.

The document also set the goal of taking Pudong’s GDP beyond two trillion yuan in seven years, through a set of 20 measures covering system innovation, economic growth, local governance and green ecology.

In August last year, China issued an overall plan for the Lingang area, newly carved out of Shanghai’s Pilot FTZ. The plan said Lingang is aimed at building a relatively mature institutional system of investment and trade liberalization and facilitation by 2025, and a special economic function zone with strong global market influence and competitiveness by 2035.

The new area provides a number of open and functional platforms for enterprises doing business in China. U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla, for example, built its first gigafactory outside the United States last year in the new Lingang area, with a designated annual production capacity of 500,000 units.

Tesla Shanghai gigafactory is on course to produce 150,000 cars a year this year alone, Grace Tao, Tesla China’s global vice president, told CGTN during the International Fair for Trade in Services in September.

“We are really happy that we actually already achieved our target, and that will be quite a big proportion of Tesla’s global output,” said Tao, adding “Elon Musk (founder and CEO) will be very happy about the Chinese performance.”

Contributing to technology and innovation

In addition, Pudong has played an important role in Shanghai’s latest goal of becoming a technology and innovation center.

In 2017, the municipal government approved a plan to turn the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park into a science city with about 700,000 residents, including scientists, professionals and entrepreneurs.

In March this year, Pudong announced an action plan to build ten large scientific facilities, six “100 billion-level” core industrial clusters and one national laboratory by 2025.

As the epitome of an international metropolis, Pudong has many industry clusters, and provides a lot of application scenarios for big cities, Yuan Tao, chairman of Shanghai Zhangjiang, told CGTN.

“There are many scenarios for products and technologies to be applied, including in the field of city and community management, commercial and financial services,” he said.

For example, Zhangjiang AIsland, located in Pudong’s Zhangjiang, is the first “5G+AI” commercial demonstration area in Shanghai. AI technologies have been used in schools, hospitals, communities, banks, transport facilities and a governmental data management center on the island.

(Cover: The new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.)

(Wang Tianyu and Guo Meiping a

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Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria

Published

1 month ago

September 28, 2025

The Gleamer

African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.

The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.

Africa’s Heavy Burden

Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.

Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.

Taxing for Health Futures

The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.

According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.

The new financing mechanism proposes:

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items

Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions

A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue

“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”

Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.

Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.

“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.

From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.

Private Sector and Global Support

Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.

The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:

“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”

Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria

Abuja, Nigeria – African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.

Africa’s Heavy Burden

Taxing for Health Futures

The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.

The new financing mechanism proposes:

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items

Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions

A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue

Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Private Sector and Global Support

The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:

“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”

The Big Push: From Talk to Action

Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.

With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.

“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”

Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.

With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.

“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”

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