Shanghai

Shanghai is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowing through it. The population of the city proper is the third greatest in the world, with 24.89 million inhabitants in 2021, while the urban area is the most populous in China, with 39.3 million residents. As of 2018, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (nominal) of nearly 9.1 trillion RMB ($1.33 trillion). Shanghai is one of the world's major centers for finance, business and economics, research, science and technology, manufacturing, transportation, tourism, and culture, and the Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest container port.

Originally a fishing village and market town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to both domestic and foreign trade and its favorable port location. The city was one of five treaty ports forced to open to European trade after the First Opium War. The Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession were subsequently established. The city then flourished, becoming a primary commercial and financial hub of Asia in the 1930s. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the city was the site of the major Battle of Shanghai. After the war, with the CCP takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries and the city's global influence declined.

By the 1990s, economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping a decade earlier resulted in an intense redevelopment of the city, especially the Pudong New Area, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment. The city has since re-emerged as a hub for international trade and finance; it is the home of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization and the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, the first free-trade zone in mainland China. Shanghai has been classified as an Alpha+ (global first-tier) city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. As of 2022, it is home to 12 companies of the Fortune Global 500 and is ranked 4th on the Global Financial Centres Index. The city is also a global major center for research and development and home to many highly ranked Double First-Class Universities. The Shanghai Metro, first opened in 1993, is the largest metro network in the world by route length.

Shanghai has been described as the "showpiece" of the booming economy of China. Featuring several architectural styles such as Art Deco and shikumen, the city is renowned for its Lujiazui skyline, museums and historic buildings including the City God Temple, Yu Garden, the China Pavilion and buildings along the Bund, which includes Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Shanghai is also known for its sugary cuisine, distinctive local language and vibrant international flair.

Shanghai has been described as the "showpiece" of the booming economy of China. The city is a global center for finance and innovation, and a national center for commerce, trade, and transportation, with the world's busiest container port—the Port of Shanghai. As of 2018, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area, which includes Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Zhoushan, and Huzhou, was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product of nearly 9.1 trillion RMB ($1.33 trillion in nominal or $2.08 trillion in PPP), exceeding that of Mexico with GDP (nominal) of $1.22 trillion, the 15th largest in the world. As of 2020, the economy of Shanghai was estimated to be $1 trillion (PPP), ranking the most productive metro area of China and among the top ten largest metropolitan economies in the world. Shanghai's six largest industries—retail, finance, IT, real estate, machine manufacturing, and automotive manufacturing—comprise about half the city's GDP. As of 2021, Shanghai had a GDP of CN¥4.46 trillion ($1.106 trillion in PPP) that makes up 3.69% of China's GDP, and a GDP per capita of CN¥179,907 (US$26,747 in nominal or US$44,576 in PPP) In 2021, the average annual disposable income of Shanghai's residents was CN¥78,027 (US$12,287) per capita, while the average annual salary of people employed in urban units in Shanghai was CN¥191,844 (US$29,736), making it one of the wealthiest cities in China,[134] but also the most expensive city in mainland China to live in according to a 2017 study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Since 2018, Shanghai has been hosting the China International Import Expo (CIIE) annually, the world's first import-themed national-level expo.

In 2021, Shanghai was the most expensive city in the world. Shanghai was the 5th wealthiest city in the world, with a total wealth amounts to $1.8 trillion, and Shanghai was ranked fifth-highest in the number of billionaires by Forbes. Shanghai's nominal GDP was projected to reach US$1.3 trillion in 2035 (ranking first in China), making it one of the world's Top 5 major cities in terms of GRP according to a study by Oxford Economics. As of August 2022, Shanghai ranked 5th in the world and 2nd in China (after Beijing) by the largest number of the Fortune Global 500 companies in the world.

Education and research in Shanghai :

Shanghai is an international center of research and development and as of 2022, it was ranked third globally and second in the whole Asia & Oceania region (after Beijing) by scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index. It is also a major center of higher education in China. As of 2022, Shanghai had 64 universities and colleges, ranking first in East China region as a city with most higher education institutions.

Shanghai has many highly ranked educational institutions, with 15 universities listed in 147 Double First-Class Universities ranking second nationwide among all cities in China (after Beijing). A number of China's most prestigious universities appearing in the global university rankings are based in Shanghai, including Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, East China Normal University, Shanghai University, East China University of Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai International Studies University, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai Maritime University, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Shanghai University of Sport. Some of these universities were selected as "985 universities" or "211 universities" since the 90s by the Chinese government in order to build world-class universities.

Shanghai is a seat of two members (Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University) of the C9 League, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education, and these two universities are ranked consistently in the Asia top 10, and in the global top 100 research comprehensive universities according to the most influential university rankings in the world such as QS Rankings, Shanghai Rankings, and Times Higher Education Rankings. Fudan University established a joint EMBA program with Washington University in St. Louis in 2002 which has since consistently been ranked as one of the best in the world. The other two members of the "Project 985", Tongji University and East China Normal University, are also based in Shanghai and internationally; they are regarded as one of the most reputable Chinese universities by the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings where they ranked 150–175th globally. The city is also home to the Shanghai University of Sport, which consistently ranks the best in China among universities specialized in sports. As of 2022, Shanghai University of Sport ranks #1 in Asia and #43 globally according to the "Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments 2022" released by Shanghai Ranking.

The city has many Chinese–foreign joint education institutes, such as the Shanghai University–University of Technology Sydney Business School since 1994, the University of Michigan–Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute since 2006, and New York University Shanghai—the first China–U.S. joint venture university—since 2012. In 2013, the Shanghai Municipality and the Chinese Academy of Sciences founded the ShanghaiTech University in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Pudong. Shanghai is also home to the cadre school China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong and the China Europe International Business School. The city government's education agency is the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.

The city is also a seat of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China's oldest think tank for the humanities and social sciences. It is the largest one outside the capital of Beijing after the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

By the end of 2019, the city also had 929 secondary schools, 698 primary schools, and 31 special schools. In Shanghai, the nine years of compulsory education—including five years of primary education and four years of junior secondary education—are free, with a gross enrollment ratio of over 99.9%. The city's compulsory education system is among the best in the world: in 2009 and 2012, 15-year-old students from Shanghai ranked first in every subject (math, reading, and science) in the Program for International Student Assessment, a worldwide study of academic performance conducted by the OECD.[218][219] The consecutive three-year senior secondary education is priced and uses the Senior High School Entrance Examination (Zhongkao) as a selection process, with a gross enrollment ratio of 98%. Among all senior high schools, the four with the best teaching quality—Shanghai High School, No. 2 High School Attached to East China Normal University, High School Affiliated to Fudan University, and High School Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University—are termed "The Four Schools" (“四校”) of Shanghai. As of October 2019, the city's National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) is structured under the "3+3" system, in which all general senior high school students study three compulsory subjects (Chinese, English, and math) and three subjects chosen from six options (physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, and politics).