Shanghai focuses on the online economy, with blockchain, artificial intelligence, 5G, and big data technologies being key development priorities.

At a press conference held by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization last week, the "Action Plan for Promoting the Development of Online New Economy in Shanghai (2020-2022)" was released. The plan will guide the key development of the "online economy" in Shanghai over the next two years. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization will focus on the application of blockchain technology in areas such as credit financing, insurance claims, asset management, supply chain management, mobile payments, and electronic evidence.

Shanghai Focuses on Online Economy

With the global popularity of the Internet, the growth of the online economy has developed rapidly in the past five to ten years. In addition, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 unexpectedly brought about a wave of remote work. Seizing this opportunity, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization held a press conference on April 13th, announcing the release of the "Action Plan to Promote the Development of Shanghai's Online New Economy (2020-2022)," focusing on 12 key areas such as unmanned factories, industrial internet, and online healthcare. Wu Jincheng, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, stated:

"The online new economy is a new format and model that leverages intelligent interactive technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, the Internet, big data, and blockchain, deeply integrating with modern production and manufacturing, business finance, entertainment consumption, education health, and circulation travel, featuring online, intelligent, and interactive characteristics."

The goal of the "Action Plan to Promote the Development of Shanghai's Online New Economy" is to establish Shanghai as an internationally influential hub for online new economy development by 2022. Liu Ping, Chief Engineer of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, stated that the plan focuses on three areas: "Creating from Nothing," new industrial models forced by the epidemic, including remote work and "contactless" delivery; "Transforming from Existing," transferring mature offline business models to integrate online and offline, including online exhibitions, education, and healthcare; and "Expanding from Transformation," existing models that have grown during the epidemic, including unmanned factories, industrial internet, online entertainment, and fresh e-commerce retail.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization also explicitly stated in the action plan that Shanghai will make every effort to develop the application of blockchain in areas such as credit financing, insurance claims, asset management, supply chain management, mobile payments, and electronic evidence.

Remote Work Becomes a Trend

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the world were forced to isolate and unable to go to work, accelerating the development of remote work and the online economy. According to reports, in the United States, over 80% of companies have implemented remote work policies, with over 30 million people working remotely; in Japan, the epidemic led Japanese electronics companies to plan for 60,000 employees to work remotely; in China, searches for "remote work" surged by 663%, and data released by Alibaba's DingTalk in early February indicated that nearly 10 million companies in China, around 200 million people, were working remotely from home.

After this epidemic, people's perception of traditional "going to work" may be drastically different, and the popularity of remote work models is expected to further grow.

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