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Gong Zheng

The latest news on Chinese politician Gong Zheng, including political stories and updates.

Born

4 Mar 1960

Industry

Politics

Job Title

Mayor of Shanghai

Pony AI’s robotaxi is seen on a Shanghai road. Photo: Weibo

China manufacturing

China’s old ‘Motown’, Shanghai bets on robotaxis, better batteries to bump GDP

City authorities point at the need to lure foreign firms, while emerging sectors are expected to generate a trillion-yuan boost over the next 5 years.

19 May 2026 - 7:30AMvideocam

2026 Xi-Trump summit

China tells close Trump ally its wish list ahead of US leader’s Beijing trip

7 May 2026 - 10:56PMvideocam

Two Sessions 2026

China’s eastern, southern economic powerhouses vie for innovation leadership

6 Mar 2026 - 10:15PM

China GDP

China’s financial powerhouse Shanghai aims for 5% growth, ‘global influence’

Chinese megacity ranks in the world’s five most powerful metros after New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, with a GDP of 5.67 trillion yuan.

3 Feb 2026 - 5:00PMvideocam

People walk at the Bund by the Huangpu river with skyscrapers of the Lujiazui financial district in the background, in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

China property

Why Shanghai is buying small older flats to revive its ailing housing market

Pudong, Jing’an and Xuhui districts will lead the programme, which comes amid signs of stabilisation in the secondary market.

3 Feb 2026 - 3:51PM

Trending in China

China eatery owners use cancer-hit business rival’s payment QR code for day to raise funds

Well-liked 50-year-old who worked so hard ‘he had no time to go to the toilet’ feels love of fellow food sellers who raise US$2,900 in 24 hours.

22 Dec 2025 - 6:00PM

Greater Bay Area

How Shanghai leverages arts and events to fuel tourism and power economic growth

Surge in overseas tourists boosts financial and commercial hub’s GDP, which outpaces national growth for the first time in nearly a decade.

31 Oct 2025 - 10:51AM

Tourist arrivals in Shanghai have soared, driven by top-notch art shows and cultural events. Photo: Xinhua

Banking & finance

Shanghai to scrap all foreign investment limits on manufacturing

Overseas companies in EVs, telecoms, biotechnology and hospitals to gain full access to the Chinese market, mayor says.

12 Oct 2025 - 8:30PM

US-China tech war

For Nvidia, losing China’s AI market would be ‘tremendous loss’, CEO says

China’s AI market is likely to grow to US$50 billion in the next two to three years, Huang told US broadcaster CNBC.

7 May 2025 - 2:00PM

Semiconductors

Nvidia denies China joint venture report after Jensen Huang’s whirlwind visit

The denial of joint venture plans comes as the US chip giant is trying to navigate its way through an intensifying US-China tech war.

29 Apr 2025 - 10:41PM

China's economic recovery

China vows punishments if business gripes are verified in investigation

In Beijing’s bid to realise ambitious economic growth goals for this year, steps are being taken to ensure local-level authorities are pulling their weight and not making matters worse for struggling businesses.

15 Mar 2024 - 6:48PM

Beijing is vowing to keep business policies stable and transparent, and it will dispatch teams of investigators next month to hear complaints. Photo: Bloomberg

China property

Shanghai’s commercial property landlords face pressure to lower rents

Owners of commercial properties in Shanghai are under pressure to cut rents to support restaurants and retailers facing the daunting task of sustaining their businesses amid lacklustre consumer demand.

12 Feb 2024 - 9:30AM

Artificial intelligence

Ant Group inks partnership with Shanghai to help the city’s AI ambitions

Ant Group and the Shanghai municipal government have struck a partnership that would see the two parties deepen their collaboration in fields such as blockchain and artificial intelligence.

1 Feb 2024 - 8:40PM

China's economic recovery

Tesla, Porsche chip in as Shanghai allays cross-border data flow ‘sore point’

China’s industrial and commercial hub of Shanghai is seeking to roll out a three-tiered cross-border data flow regulation by March in a bid to address a long-standing ‘sore point’ for foreign firms.

31 Jan 2024 - 4:43PMvideocam

Tesla, Porsche’s China sales subsidiary and SAIC’s joint ventures with foreign partners are among the 14 auto companies crafting proposals to be released for implementation in March. Pictured is the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua

Shanghai

Shanghai offers financing and land-use support to foreign investors

Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng said the policy initiative to support more foreign direct investments would buttress the city’s economic recovery efforts in 2024.

27 Jan 2024 - 4:19PM

Shanghai’s municipal government will provide more policy guarantees in terms of land use, energy supply, environmental evaluation and financing to foreign investors. Photo: Bloomberg

China stock market

China’s stock market rout hurts more than fiction of Blossoms Shanghai

Today, not much resembles the reels in Blossoms Shanghai. China’s legion of 200 million retail investors can be forgiven for hankering for that gravity-defying bygone era of the 1990s.

27 Jan 2024 - 10:53AMvideocam

Banking & finance

Shanghai fails to achieve 5.5% economic growth target for 2023

The city’s GDP expanded 5 per cent last year as the global economy turned out to be weaker than expected, Mayor Gong Zheng told an annual session of the Shanghai People’s Congress on Tuesday.

23 Jan 2024 - 4:12PMvideocam

China’s Communist Party

China’s premier, top officials pay tribute to late AI visionary Tang Xiao’ou

Li Qiang, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang among Chinese leaders paying respects to the leading facial recognition expert and SenseTime co-founder, who died Friday.

20 Dec 2023 - 11:39PMvideocam

Top Chinese officials paid tributes on Tuesday to the late SenseTime co-founder Tang Xiao’ou, who died Friday from an undisclosed illness. Photo: Weibo/SenseTime

US-China tech war

Shanghai taps miHoYo, SenseTime and SMEE among its inaugural 40 tech champions

Shanghai names 40 tech champions as city continues to bolster tech credentials amid central government support for strategic sectors.

5 Dec 2023 - 8:00PM

China stock market

Hong Kong leader John Lee pursues stronger economic ties with Shanghai at CIIE 2023

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has urged the strengthening of economic ties between Shanghai and Hong Kong to build world-class tech start-ups.

6 Nov 2023 - 12:22PM

Hong Kong economy

China’s commerce minister urges Hong Kong to use strengths to help firms expand

Commerce minister Wang Wentao says Hong Kong should cultivate new growth points in digitalisation and green trade.

6 Nov 2023 - 8:22AM

Chief Executive John Lee (centre) tours the expo’s Hong Kong exhibition area with Premier Li Qiang. Photo: Handout

China property

Shanghai economic demand seen driven by US rate cuts in 2024: govt adviser

Shanghai’s economy, dealt a double blow by China’s troubled property sector and the nation’s tumbling stock market this year, could see better days in 2024 when the US is widely expected to lower interest rates, a government economic adviser said

24 Oct 2023 - 7:00AM

Visitors walk down the main shopping street of Nanjing East Road, one of the city’s main commercial and tourist area, in Shanghai, China. Photo: Bloomberg

Electric & new energy vehicles

Shanghai mayor vows to attract more foreign firms like Tesla, Boston Scientific

Mayor Gong Zheng said more landmark deals are in the works as Shanghai tries to burnish its image as an international investment magnet.

15 Oct 2023 - 9:30PMvideocam

Taiwan

Taipei mayor leads delegation to Shanghai as Beijing ramps up pressure on Taiwan

Rising KMT star Wayne Chiang says an annual forum is an opportunity to improve dialogue and stability.

29 Aug 2023 - 5:42PMvideocam

China's economic recovery

With lots of work to do, Shanghai urged to show ‘dragon’s head’ in investor push

Shanghai is inviting foreign businesses to invest in high-quality projects through an ‘global investment partner’ scheme, but the number of European firms with Asia-Pacific headquarters in China’s economic hub has dropped.

22 Jun 2023 - 8:00AMvideocam

CEO Elon Musk poses for a group photo at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. Photo: Weibo

Singapore

Singapore’s Lawrence Wong cements ties with China leaders in ‘timely’ visit

Lawrence Wong’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang indicates a mutual desire to push forward cooperation ‘driven at the senior levels’, one analyst notes

17 May 2023 - 6:42PM

Chinese Premier Li Qiang (right) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, on May 16, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

Shanghai

Shanghai pledges more support for small businesses to boost economic recovery

Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng on Sunday said more economic sweeteners, such as tax cuts and government subsidies, are now in the works to address the problems faced by the city’s small businesses.

15 Jan 2023 - 9:38PM

Shanghai

Shanghai eyes 5.5 per cent consumption-led economic growth for 2023

Shanghai will strive to achieve economic growth of 5.5 per cent in 2023, despite the headwinds buffeting the global economy, according to Mayor Gong Zheng.

11 Jan 2023 - 3:30PM

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