Hongkou, named after Hongkou Harbour, is one of Shanghai’s central urban districts, covering a total area of 23.4 km². According to the results of the 6th National Population Census, the district had a permanent resident population of 853,400 and a registered population of 790,000.

Since China’s reform and opening-up, state leaders including Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping have visited Hongkou to guide its development. Boasting a prime geographical location, Hongkou is home to the North Bund, once hailed by Zhu Rongji, former Mayor of Shanghai, as Shanghai’s “treasured land”. Where rivers converge, the south-facing North Bund, together with The Bund and Lujiazui, forms the “Golden Triangle”, the core of Shanghai’s central business district. In recent years, Shanghai has vigorously pushed forward infrastructure development for transport hubs, networks and functional facilities, greatly upgrading Hongkou’s transport system. Metro Lines 3, 4, 8 and 10 run through the district, and Line 12, currently under construction, was scheduled to open within the year. Both the Inner Ring Road and Middle Ring Road traverse Hongkou, delivering convenient connections to Shanghai’s two major airports and Shanghai Railway Station.

Prosperity of Regional Economy

Total fiscal revenue reached RMB 12.964 billion in 2012, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.3%. District-level fiscal revenue stood at RMB 5.82 billion, up 8.2%. Hongkou prioritises the development of five major industries:

“Blue” Industry – Shipping Services: Focused on building Shanghai’s modern shipping service system, Hongkou develops high-end and mid-tier shipping services, improves resource allocation for the shipping sector, and fosters a complete shipping service industrial chain.

“Golden” Industry – Financial Services: Distinct from Lujiazui and The Bund, Hongkou vigorously grows wealth management-focused financial services. By the end of 2012, nearly 500 financial institutions of various types operated within the district, six times the number recorded at the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

“Red” Industry – Commerce, Tourism, Culture and Sports: Leveraging the abundant commercial, sports, cultural and red tourism resources along North Sichuan Road, Hongkou advances integrated development of commerce, tourism, culture and sports, and vigorously boosts e-commerce to build Shanghai’s modern commercial hub for international wine trade.

“Green” Industry – Low-carbon Industries: Supported by the Huayuanfang Energy-Saving and Environmental Protection Industrial Park, Hongkou actively engages in carbon trading and emission control, striving to take a national lead in carbon finance.

“Multicoloured” Industry – Cultural and Creative Industries: Integrating culture with innovation, science and technology, Hongkou cultivates emerging cultural sectors including digital media, digital publishing and music publishing.

Function Optimization of Urban Areas

Hongkou pushes ahead with the development plan of “Three Zones, Two Valleys and Two New Residential Estates”. It accelerates the opening-up of the North Bund Shipping and Financial Service Cluster Zone. Stretching along a 3.2-kilometre golden waterfront, the North Bund has a total gross floor area of over 3 million m², covering completed, ongoing and planned projects. Known as China’s first “Shipping Headquarters Base”, Hongkou actively carries out comprehensive pilot reforms for shipping and financial services in the North Bund to build a dual core supporting Shanghai’s development as an international shipping centre and international financial centre.

The district vigorously promotes functional transformation and industrial restructuring for commercial, trading, cultural and recreational streets along North Sichuan Road. Large commercial complexes such as CapitaLand Hongkou Plaza have opened one after another. Online and offline businesses reinforce each other, turning the area into a new consumption hotspot and popular office cluster in Shanghai. Construction of national import commodity exhibition centres is also underway.

Hongkou speeds up the development and upgrading of the Dabaishu Knowledge Innovation and Service Trade Circle. The Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park centred on Dabaishu has expanded to a total area of 7.99 km². Hongkou maximises the policy dividends of the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone and energetically develops high-tech industries.

Two distinctive valleys are under vigorous development: Carbon Valley and Shanghai Music Valley. More than 20 functional institutions have settled in Carbon Valley, including the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, which runs pilot carbon emission allowance trading programmes. Shanghai Music Valley is Shanghai’s only scenic area with an intact preserved river system. Its waterfront landscapes, lighting and musical features have gradually taken shape. Several distinctive industrial parks have been completed, attracting numerous outstanding cultural enterprises.

Two high-quality residential estates are being built: Ruihong New Town and Caihongwan Social Housing Area. Ruihong New Town is a stylish top-tier international residential community rebuilt from old neighbourhoods in Hongzhen. Covering a gross area of 900,000 m², Caihongwan focuses on social housing provision, and its construction is well underway.

Rich Cultural Heritage

Long reputed as “Cultural Hongkou”, the district is the cradle of Shanghai-style culture, advanced culture and cultural celebrities. It hosts 3 historic and cultural landscape protection zones and 4 Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level: the Shanghai Postal Administration Building, Shanghai Mansions (Broadway Mansions), the Tomb of Lu Xun, and Tilanqiao Prison. There are 303 historic sites and cultural relics across the district, including former residences of celebrities such as Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai, as well as memorial venues like the Memorial Site of the 4th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Site-Memorial of the Inaugural Meeting of the Chinese Left-Wing Writers’ Union and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum.

As the saying goes: “To see a century-old Shanghai, visit this small street of Duolun.” Duolun Road boasts one of the densest concentrations of former residences of modern cultural celebrities in Shanghai. After years of renewal and renovation, it has formed its unique features: “Celebrity Residences, Old Shanghai, Bowen Street and Leisure Community”.

Harmonious and Stable Society

Hongkou boosts district development through high-quality education. The district is home to prestigious universities including Shanghai International Studies University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, as well as benchmark high schools such as Shanghai Fuxin Senior High School and No.1 High School Affiliated to East China Normal University.

Hongkou also boasts abundant medical and healthcare resources. Grade A Tertiary Hospitals located here include Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Yueyang Hospital and Shanghai Integrative Medicine Hospital. Hongkou took the lead in Shanghai’s pilot programmes for the family doctor system and the integration of elderly care and medical services. Its elderly care services enjoy high public recognition. The district pioneered a new home-and-community-based elderly care model with its “Online Nursing Home”, covering all subdistricts and neighbourhood committees.

Active efforts are made to advance community co-governance and residents’ self-governance. Social organisations such as “New Home” have flourished, with continuous growth in public participation and satisfaction.