Shanghai's municipal government has officially released the "15th Five-Year Plan for Accelerating the Promotion of a New Type of Industrialization and Building a Modern Industrial System," outlining its development goals for 2030. The plan aims to comprehensively strengthen the city's industrial economic power, supporting its status as a global economic center, and ultimately establishing Shanghai as a world-class hub for intelligent manufacturing. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization provided an official interpretation of the plan, shedding light on the strategic background and rationale behind the city's commitment to its industrial roots.
How exactly does the new "2+3+6+6" industrial system take shape? The Commission emphasized that Shanghai, a city with a deep industrial heritage, has always contributed to the national economy. In 2025, the city's industrial added value reached 1.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 19.7% of its GDP, with strategic emerging manufacturing industries growing to represent 45% of total industrial output. As geopolitical shifts reshape global industrial chains and artificial intelligence drives rapid change, the plan lays out a clear path to answer the critical question of what kind of industry a global metropolis should develop.
To succeed, the plan centers on promoting "three integrations": deep fusion of technological and industrial innovation, industrialization with digital intelligence, and advanced manufacturing with modern services. Simultaneously, it aims to create "four spaces" by opening new technology frontiers through innovative models, activating new production factors with "intelligence+", unlocking new growth through a robust industrial ecosystem, and expanding market opportunities via open cooperation. The goal is to build a modern industrial system led by advanced manufacturing, foster new quality productive forces, and forge a distinctive path of new industrialization for an international metropolis.
The optimized "2+3+6+6" industrial system represents a strategic restructuring of Shanghai's economy, offering a prioritized roadmap for industrial development over time. The first "2" refers to the digital and green transformation of traditional pillar industries like chemicals, steel, and light manufacturing, while the "3+6" focuses on solidifying today's economic pillars. This involves strengthening the three leading industries of integrated circuits, biomedicine, and AI, alongside developing six key emerging industrial clusters, including next-generation electronics, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, and high-end equipment.
The final "6" in the framework represents securing a ticket for future growth by cultivating forward-looking sectors. It focuses on areas like quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces, controlled nuclear fusion, biomanufacturing, and sixth-generation communications, positioning Shanghai to seize opportunities in the next technological revolution.
Why is maintaining this 20%+ industrial share so crucial for a city that already ranks fifth globally by GDP? Tang Wenkan, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, underscored that manufacturing is vital for the nation and serves as the material foundation for Shanghai's ambition to become a modern socialist international metropolis. The plan explicitly targets an industrial added value of at least 20% of GDP by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, a goal dictated by national strategy, the city's unique mission, and urban development principles.
The target is a direct response to the central government's directive to "maintain a reasonable proportion of manufacturing." As a key hub for national strategies, Shanghai is responsible for critical projects including integrated circuits, AI, large aircraft, and cruise ships. It stands as the only city globally to have built all "three pearls" of the shipbuilding industry, holds over 30% of the world's large LNG carrier orders, and has made significant strides with the "Guohe No.1" nuclear reactor. For Shanghai, a strong industrial base is essential to be a national pioneer in developing key technologies and ensuring self-sufficiency in core industrial chains.
Furthermore, advancing manufacturing is core to Shanghai's mission of becoming a global center. In 2025, the city's industrial output above designated size returned to the 4 trillion yuan level after two years, supporting total imports and exports to break through 4.51 trillion yuan despite global headwinds. Its integrated circuit industry alone reached 580 billion yuan in scale, a quarter of the national market, while the AI industry surpassed 630 billion yuan with nearly 40% growth. These achievements are part of Shanghai's drive to provide solid material support for its international status and to lead the Yangtze River Delta in coordinated industrial development.
From an urban development perspective, a 20% industrial share represents a high-quality, high-resilience advanced manufacturing base built through continuous industrial upgrading, acting as a powerful ballast for economic stability. In 2025, despite weak global recovery and geopolitical tensions, Shanghai propelled its industrial added value to grow by 5.0%, demonstrating the strength and resilience of its industrial base in supporting the city's overall economic stability. Director Tang concluded that Shanghai must explore a path unique to its character, offering a replicable "Shanghai solution" for other mega-cities to pursue new industrialization in China.