Separated from the city by the Yangtze River, Chongming County is often referred to as Shanghai's backyard.
The municipal government has big plans for the area and pledged to turn the backyard into an eco-friendly island.
The 1,225-square-kilometer island on an alluvial plain is bestowed with various natural resources such as forests, marshlands, meandering rivers and lakes.
It's also the home of farmland sprinkled with charming bungalows.
The county has a 230-kilometer shelter belt along the shore, 200-square-kilometers of forests and the marshlands - complete with sturgeons and migratory birds and boasting an area of more than 700 square meters.
Though featuring dreamy scenery, the county is not content to keep the place as a pure nature reserve. Instead, the county government is pondering a way to both boost the island's economy while also protecting the environment.
According to the Chongming government blueprint, the area will become a modern eco-suburban area.
The county is listed as one of the poorest areas in the city and faces difficulties attracting investment.
"We will introduce industries that do not produce much pollution to our county," said an official from Chongming County government.
Thus far, five large non-polluting firms have been introduced to the island. Anqing Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, among the nation's top 500 pharmaceutical companies, and China Worldbest Group Co Ltd, are located on the island.
"Though Chongming is not an industrialized county, it does provide us with a great and steady labor supply" said Shen Ziming, general manager of Shanghai Visart Technology Co Ltd from China Worldbest Group Co Ltd. Worldbest invested US$2.5 million in the county.
Small manufacturing factories still dominate the county. The government is in the process of relocating them to Shanghai Chongming Industrial Zone - a special area for factories.
The zone covers 1.41 square kilometers and was designed to employ 1,800 residents.
Last year, 423 million yuan (US$50.96 million) in taxes was collected from the zone, up approximately 60 percent year-on-year. It represented one quarter of the county's revenue.
"It's almost impossible to set up a non-pollution county, but we'll do our best to reduce it," said the official.
The municipal government has invested more than 10 million yuan for the county to set up eco-protected infrastructure.
The infrastructure will be built to boost the industrial area and future tourist sites.
The island also plans to take advantage of its rich natural resources to develop tourism. It will set up theme parks and exhibitions near scenic spots.
The county government has said farmers could be relocated for the projects. If they are, farmers would receive the same amount of land in the new location.