Shanghai shot in the arm for productive Internet service platforms

Shanghai on Tuesday introduced a set of guidelines on promoting the high-quality development of productive Internet service platforms in the city, as part of its efforts to create a first-class business environment and build a new development pattern of services.

Productive Internet service platforms are a type of online platforms that provide various services to facilitate the production and operation activities of enterprises. They use the Internet as their primary carrier, with data as a key production factor and new-generation information technology as a core driving force.

According to Zhu Min, director of the city's Commission of Commerce, these platforms are an important component of the modern industrial ecosystem and an important carrier for Shanghai to enhance its comprehensive competitiveness and develop a new pattern of services.

The release of the document is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of productive Internet service platforms and accelerating the construction of a stronger industrial ecosystem, Zhu said.

Specifically, a total of 16 guidelines are proposed focusing on three major aspects, namely, enhancing the advantages of development, optimizing the development environment, and improving management.

I. On enhancing development advantages:

• Strengthening platforms for commodity trading service.
  
• Expanding platforms for industrial e-commerce service.
  
• Establishing specialized platforms for digital transformation service.
  
• Accelerating the cultivation of professional service platforms.

II. On optimizing the development environment:

• Maximizing the use of special funds and relevant policies to increase support for platforms.
  
• Guaranteeing land supply for logistics infrastructure.
  
• Strengthening data resource development and application to construct digital scenarios for traditional services and enhance privacy protection and data security.

• Accelerating the integration and application of new technologies, such as the platform's blockchain technology application and application scenarios for digital renminbi.
• Encouraging international development of platforms and enterprises, organizing overseas promotion activities at key exhibitions.
• Strengthening carbon-management infrastructure construction and guiding platforms to establish a carbon accounting system; supporting the construction of service platforms for low-carbon supply chains and promote the development of a carbon trading system; establishing low-carbon supply chain accounting standards and supporting related platforms to participate in the formulation of international carbon emission standards.
• Promoting regional integration and aggregation development by promoting the development of platform aggregation in the Pudong New Area, Baoshan District, Putuo District, the Lingang New Area, the Hongqiao International Central Business District, etc.
  
• Accelerating the cultivation of multi-level professional talent.
  

III. On improving management:

• Establishing a mechanism to promote the development of industrial Internet service platforms.
  
• Strengthening platform standardization by promoting the construction of standardized systems.
  
• Establishing a new governance mechanism based on credit.
  
• Establishing a monitoring and statistical system.
  

Working group for key tasks

In addition, Shanghai has established a working group, comprising the city's Commission of Commerce, the Development and Reform Commission, the Economic Informatization Commission, and the Local Financial Supervision Bureau, to coordinate the promotion of key tasks.

In recent years, the city has made great efforts to develop and promote such tasks, especially those focusing on commodity trading, industrial e-commerce, digital transformation and professional services.

For example, after nearly a decade of cultivation, Shanghai's commodity trading service platforms have become an important component of its modern market system. Eleven platforms have annual transaction volumes exceeding 10 billion yuan (US$1.39 billion) each, with six exceeding 100 billion yuan.

The city's steel platform settlement transaction volume accounts for over 60 percent of the national steel platform transaction volume, with more than 70 percent of steel mills' production capacity taking part in the trading.

Price indices for iron ore, rebar, non-ferrous metals, and other commodities participate in global pricing and are adopted and released by the world's top four mines, foreign exchanges, and international data platforms.

Shanghai's industrial e-commerce service platforms, meanwhile, are also among the most developed in the country.

The city's four comprehensive industrial e-commerce service platforms have a cumulative annual business volume of nearly 50 billion yuan, accounting for about a quarter of the national industrial product online trading volume.

They have established partnerships with over 400 logistics and warehousing companies nationwide, providing a distribution network that covers the whole country.