Shanghai government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Ant Financial Services Group, Alibaba’s financial affiliate, on August 17 to develop itself into an innovation center.

Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang and Mayor Ying Yong met Ma Yun, chairman of Alibaba, and his delegation. Ying presided over the signing ceremony.

Zhou Bo, executive vice-mayor of Shanghai, and Zhang Yong, chairman of Ant Financial Services Group, signed the agreement.

Li said Shanghai is working hard to build its five centers and accelerating the process of building itself into an excellent metropolis to better serve the nation’s strategic development.

The companies in the city are its sources of economic vitality and the core support for upgrading its function level and core competitiveness. The city will strive to create best business environment for companies operating here and promote its integrated online service system for them.

Alibaba’s long-term strategic development plans and its efforts in breaking through the technological barriers dovetail with Shanghai’s development positioning. The city will support Alibaba’s new retail initiative, its industrial layout, innovative business applications, smart city, and Internet finance, Li added.

Ying expressed his gratitude for Alibaba’s contribution and involvement in Shanghai’s economic development. He said the city is accelerating the process of streamlining its government functions, deploying the new round of strategic cooperation agreement, and the city will support Alibaba and Ant Financial Services Group, and other companies’ development in the city.

Ma thanked the Shanghai government’s support. He said Alibaba values Shanghai’s great development potential, and the group will deploy more and more of its business, technologies, products and business models in the city to support its construction of the “five centers” and “four brands.”

The group will also take the opportunity of the upcoming China International Import Expo in November to support the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, and use its smart logistics dispatch hub in Shanghai to serve the importing companies in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Zhuge Yujie, secretary-general of the CPC Shanghai Committee, also attended the related events.

According to the agreement, Shanghai government and Alibaba will carry out cooperation in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, innovations in social management, technologies, and manufacturing industries’ upgrade, new retail industries’ development, cultural industries, and talent cultivation.