The APEC Women and the Economy Forum was held in east China's Shanghai Municipality on May 15. Shanghai is one of the regions in China with the most vibrant economic development, the highest level of openness, and the strongest innovation capability. As China's largest economic center, and a globally important economic hub, Shanghai stands as a nexus of trade, finance and industry, where history and modernity intersect, and where global capital, industry and innovation converge. To mark the event, Women of China invites our readers to visit various areas of Shanghai, to get a feeling for its economic pulse.
The Bund: Witnessing Financial Legacy
The Bund, widely considered the symbol of Shanghai, given its magnificent landmarks, is now acclaimed as an outdoor museum of international architecture. It has carried the history of Shanghai since 1843, when it opened as a port during the 23rd year of Emperor Daoguang's reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The Bund, a 1.5-kilometer waterfront and protected historical district in central Shanghai, is situated on the western bank of the Huangpu River (known as Shanghai's mother river), the largest river flowing through downtown Shanghai.
Fifty-two buildings — representing various construction styles, including Gothic, Baroque, Roman, Renaissance, Classical and the combination of Eastern and Western styles — stand to the west of the Bund. The buildings, which used to house financial institutions and trading companies, earned the Bund the reputation of the Oriental Wall Street during the 1930s-1940s.
China's modern banking system took root at the Bund. For example, the Imperial Bank of China, founded in 1897, was the first Chinese-owned modern commercial bank; the former Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building, once the largest bank building in East Asia, and second-largest in the world, stood as a symbol of financial power in the early 1900s. The Bank of China building, which opened in 1937, marked the rise of China's financial strength. The building, with its strong Chinese architectural style, including its pyramid roof, glazed roof tiles, hollow lattice windows, and rocky corbel arch (on the entablature), perfectly integrates Western decorative art with traditional Chinese style.
The Bund embodies the confluence of Chinese and Western cultures, and it reflects Shanghai's unique history as a bridge between traditions and globalization. Today, the 52 buildings have a new lease on life; through a conservation-oriented renovation, which has restored their historic appearances and reshaped their functions, the buildings have been transformed from purely financial office buildings into vibrant spaces integrating finance, commerce, art, culture, hotels, dining and various other functions. It is in the Bund that visitors can feel the deep, enduring foundations of Shanghai's economic identity.
Lujiazui Financial City: Modern Engine of Global Finance
Lujiazui Financial City is directly across the Huangpu River from the Bund. It is a forest of skyscrapers, defining Shanghai's contemporary economic power, and the leading financial and commercial district in China. It is home to iconic skyscrapers, such as Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai International Convention Center, and Shanghai World Financial Center. Lujiazui Financial City covers 31.78 square kilometers in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, and it contributes nearly 14 percent of Shanghai's and 40 percent of Pudong's economic output.
Lujiazui is a global nexus of capital. More than 8,000 financial institutions operate here, including top international asset managers, foreign banks and Fortune 500 companies. Lujiazui hosts the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange and other key national markets. It drives innovation through China's sci-tech innovation board (STAR market), and it connects global investors via programs like Stock Connect.
Lujiazui has become an important cluster for global asset-management institutions in China. It now houses nearly 80 percent of the foreign-funded, asset-management institutions, 40 percent of the foreign-funded corporate banks, nearly one-third of the public-fund-management companies, and nearly one-quarter of the insurance-asset-management institutions in China. More than 80 world-renowned financial institutions, from 13 countries, have established more than 120 foreign-asset-management institutions in Lujiazui.
By day, the district buzzes with business activity; by night, its illuminated towers reflect the ceaseless flow of global finance.
Lin-gang Special Area: Pioneering Future Growth
Seventy kilometers south of downtown Shanghai, on the coast of the East China Sea, is Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Established in 2019, Lin-gang Special Area is modeled on the world's most-competitive free-trade zones; for example, it has adopted open policies and systems that are internationally market competitive. Its goals include making foreign investments, business operations and capital flows more convenient, streamlining imports and exports of goods, and providing a highly integrated transportation network.
Lin-gang Special Area is a center for cutting-edge industries: Integrated circuits, civil aviation, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, aerospace, finance and more. Leading global firms have set up major production and research facilities in the area, helping to fuel a fast-growing industrial chain.
Since China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) wrapped up, Lin-gang has made progress in urban development, institutional innovation, industrial clusters and innovation capacity. During that five-year stretch, the area has maintained strong economic momentum, with its GDP growing at an average annual rate of 21.7 percent. Urban development has advanced in parallel. Several projects — in education, healthcare, ecology, commerce, culture, tourism and sports — have been completed, making Lin-gang a vibrant, modern area ideal for both living and working.
Lin-gang Special Area is where Shanghai's economy expands beyond finance into tech and advanced industry — a bold vision of China's future growth.
In Shanghai, economic vitality is not just measured in numbers; in fact, it is felt on every street, skyline and industrial zone, as they beat with the steady, powerful pulse of a city driving progress. To visit Shanghai is to experience the rhythm of a city that continues to shape the future of China's economy.
Photos from VCG
(Women of China English Monthly May 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
