Within five years, Jing'an District will turn its service industry into a pillar industry, following commerce and real estate, district officials said recently.
The industry, which covers accounting, lawyers and logistics, will bring in 40 percent of the district's total revenues in 2007, with an average annual growth rate of 27 percent. During the first 10 months of this year, the sector accounted for 29 percent of the district's revenues.
During the first half of 2004, about 70 percent of enterprises attracted to the district were in the service sector.
Though service enterprises are in hot demand in the city's downtown hub, not every company is welcome in the district.
"We prefer the high-end service enterprises, say the world's top multinational ones, and we also welcome some national firms, but they should be big and well-operated," said Zhang Zuofen, an official with the district planning office.
However, Zhang didn't reveal the specific standards on the assessment of top-leveled companies they want to attract in future.
According to Zhang, there are two main reasons for the district to set a "gatekeeper" for the companies.
"We are a district with a small area, so we can not provide too much space for too many enterprises," Zhang said, "At the same time, as located in the central area, the district needs to choose something to distinguish itself."
More than 2,000 business institutions including the firms like J.Walter Thompson/Bridge Advertising Co Ltd, KPMG and Maersk Logistics Co Ltd have leased offices on Nanjing Road W., one of the busiest commercial avenues in the city.
On one hand the district set a high threshold on enterprises' size and fame, on the other hand it doesn't care too much about what kind of service the enterprises is involved in.
The district wants to develop advertising, accounting, designing, attornies, real-estate management, IT services, financial consultation and entertainment companies.
"Some areas try to figure out their special industries, but we don't. We think only the market can tell which kind of service industry is suitable," Zhang said.
To attract more multinational and national service giants, the district will build about 2 million-square-meters of new office space around the roads including Beijing Road W., Maoming Road and Jiangning Road within three to five years.
Due to the city's industrial restructuring, which listed the service sector as a top priority, the district recently carried out some plans to gear towards the industry. So far, the district has got a strong development of the industry.
Taxation from the service sector in the district reached 890 million yuan (US$107.23 million) from January to October this year, accounting for 27.8 percent of the total and registering a year-on-year increase of 47 percent. The growth is 26 percentage higher than the district's total year-on-year increase in tax income.