On the afternoon of January 5, the handover ceremony of Block 89 in the North Bund and the opening ceremony of the AIA Financial Center with the theme of "Gathering Vitality, Leading Development and Meeting World" was held.
Guo Fang, Member of Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Party Chief of Hongkou District Party Committee, Lu Ming, Deputy Party Chief of Hongkou District Party Committee and District Governor, Zhou Jun, President of Shanghai Industrial Investment (Holdings) Company Limited, Zhang Xiaoyu, CEO of AIA Life, Zhou Rong, Member of Standing Committee of Hongkou District Party Committee and Deputy District Governor, and Chen Shuai, Deputy District Governor, attended the event.
In his speech, Lu Ming said that at present, the North Bund is accelerating in accordance with the goal of "three years of image, five years of function, and ten years of basic completion". The charm of the shoreline is blooming, the level of supporting functions is improved, the transportation advantage is increasingly prominent, and the planning and construction is accelerated. In the future, Hongkou will further promote the foundation and expansion of financial service trade, the extension and upgrading of shipping service trade, actively expand new fields of professional, green and digital service trade, strengthen high-end service trade functions, promote the regional economy to move towards the high-end links of the industrial chain and the high-value segments of the service chain, and create a core bearing area for Shanghai to build the "five centers" headquarters cluster area and the "four functions".
Zhang Xiaoyu said that the AIA Financial Center will become a new landmark of the North Bund. This project is the largest asset acquisition of AIA Life since its establishment. Hongkou District is making every effort to promote the new round of development and construction of the North Bund, with its high-quality urban resources and regional agglomeration effect having become increasingly apparent. AIA Life plans to relocate some of its office rental needs to the 180-meter super Grade A office building in the project, and at the same time, introduce more high-quality financial, high-tech, high-end services and other well-known enterprises at home and abroad to settle in, further leverage the concentration of high-value-added industries in the North Bund, and help the high-quality development of regional economy and high-level opening up.
It is reported that AIA Financial Center is the first complex project of AIA in the mainland of China, which integrates super-class office buildings, high-quality cultural and commercial buildings, professional theaters and historical and cultural protection buildings. While preserving the existing historical features, it will introduce the modern functions of international cities. On the basis of meeting the needs of financial and insurance business activities, it injects the elements of business, tourism, culture and entertainment, and provides a model for the North Bund to build a top central activity area with "complex functions and integrated formats".
A professional theater with a capacity of 1,700 spectators will be built in the project area, which is committed to creating a new landmark of the North Bund culture. The shopping mall with the theme of theater will closely follow the theme orientation of culture and art, green health, and become the vitality center of the core business area of the North Bund. Nie Er's former residence, which was rebuilt at the original site, will shine new light on the historical buildings, inherit the historical culture, and realize the resonance between architecture and art. The whole project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.