SHANGHAI will deepen supply-side reforms this year to boost innovation, Ying Yong, vice mayor, said.

The year would involve cutting more than 1,000 low-efficient projects and reducing high pollution and labor-intensive industries, and the focus of government efforts on supply-side reform would shift to nurturing innovative companies and industries, Ying said, adding this would help efforts to transform Shanghai into a global innovation center.

To further enhance competitiveness, Ying said the government would strengthen its function as the platform to convert scientific findings into industrial applications, turning Shanghai into an “innovative laboratory.” The government would “further reduce red tape and taxes on innovative companies.”