(Yicai) Oct. 23 -- Strategic emerging industries contributed to 44 percent of Shanghai's industrial output in the first three quarters of the year, showing that the transition to new growth drivers is already bearing fruit.

"This is a very important figure," Shen Kaiyan, director of the Institute of Economics at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai. Shanghai's three leading industries, which are also strategic emerging industries, namely artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and biopharmaceuticals, have truly served as anchors and growing engines, he added.

The value-added industrial output of Shanghai's strategic emerging industries climbed 7.3 percent in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, accounting for just over 44 percent of the city's total industrial production, according to data released by the local bureau of statistics yesterday.

AI, IC, Biopharma

The added value of Shanghai's three leading industries expanded 8.5 percent in the first three quarters from a year earlier, outpacing the overall figure for the city's industrial output growth by 2.8 percentage points. Their exports surged over 10 percent to CNY193.7 billion (USD27.2 billion).

Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period in 2021, Shanghai's three leading industries have consistently outpaced its overall value-added industrial output growth. "This is because of Shanghai's early strategic planning," Shen noted.

Shanghai biopharma companies have secured approval for 30 Class I and 45 Class III innovative drugs for domestic use from the beginning of 2021 to Sept. 30, this year, leading the nation in medicine and device innovation.

The Shanghai Science and Technology Commission recently predicted that the local biopharma industry will exceed CNY1 trillion (USD140.4 billion) this year.

Shanghai's AI layout is even more forward-looking. The city has nurtured 254 municipal-level advanced intelligent plants and 12 national-level exemplary smart factories, which not only propelled intelligent manufacturing transformation but also established 'AI + manufacturing' application demonstration scenarios.

The new policies expanding AI applications that were rolled out in July further reduced computing power costs and bolstered industrial development.

Other Strategic Emerging Industries

The value-added industrial output of Shanghai's new energy, next-generation information technology, and high-end equipment industries rose 20 percent, 11 percent, and 10 percent, respectively, in the first nine months of the year from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the new energy vehicle, lithium battery, and solar cell industries maintained exports exceeding CNY100 billion, up 6.3 percent in the period.

Profits at Shanghai's industrial enterprises above the designated size expanded more than 16 percent in the first eight months of the year, with a profit margin of 6.3 percent.

As of Sept. 30, the city boasted 306,000 valid invention patents, a nearly 13 percent increase from a year earlier, as innovation momentum translated into industrial competitiveness.

In cultivating future industries, Shanghai aims to nurture 20 ecosystem-leading enterprises by 2027 and foster several strategic emerging industries by 2030, positioning itself as a global pacesetter for future industries.

"The economic data for the first three quarters not only underscore Shanghai's resilience as an engine of China's economic growth but also highlighted the city's leading role in economic structural transformation and upgrading," Shen noted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione