(Yicai) Aug. 21 -- The Lingang Special Area, a testbed for economic and trade policies in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone that just marked its fifth year, has started building 44 new projects with a total investment of CNY34 billion (USD4.8 billion) to boost its industrial and economic development.

The new projects cover various sectors, including the Comprehensive Bonded Zone, industrial production, real estate, and municipal infrastructure, Lingang authorities announced at a ceremony for commencing construction of key projects held yesterday.

The output value of the smart car industry in Lingang surged to CNY287.9 billion (USD40.4 billion) last year from CNY31.4 billion in 2019, the largest in the area and with the strongest industrial driving capacity. The zone houses over 160 firms in the auto supply chain, covering intelligent hardware, core software, and vehicle manufacturing and services, with electronic products as a key sector.

Jinqiao Group's CNY3.6 billion (USD510 million) Research and Innovation Base of Shanghai Jingang Automotive Electronics Integration and Application "is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026," Chairman Shen Neng told Yicai. The project focuses on the auto electronics supply chain and commits to forming a smart car parts ecosystem with a full chain, scenario, and factor, Shen added.

Zenfocus' CNY1.2 billion advanced packaging and testing materials mass production base, Daya Auto Parts' CNY800 million (USD112.2 million) intelligent manufacturing base, and Maxvax Biotechnology's CNY760 million innovative vaccine research and development and industrialization base were among the new projects to start construction in Lingang.

Because Lingang contributes a ninth of Shanghai's industrial output of enterprises above a designated size, a fourth of the fixed asset investment in the manufacturing industry, and a fourth of major projects in the science and technology industry, "it has become the most important growth engine for Shanghai's economy," noted Wu Xiaohua, deputy secretary of the area's working committee.

Since being established on Aug. 20, 2019, a series of cutting-edge industrial systems have landed in Lingang, including the advantageous industries of intelligent vehicles and high-end equipment manufacturing, as well as emerging industries such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and civil aircraft manufacturing.

Lingang is also actively expanding the new energy and new materials industries and has signed deals for more than 570 key projects in the cutting-edge science and technology industry, with total investment in excess of CNY620 billion, according to official figures.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev