Tesla's first overseas factory is under construction in Lin-gang. [Photo/Shanghai Daily]

Nearly 60,000 companies are registered in the zone, a fifth of them with foreign investment totaling $25 billion.

Lin-gang, on the East China Sea, is a relatively new city, built as a modern example of international competitiveness. It serves as a hub for cutting-edge science and technology, intelligent manufacturing and the Made in Shanghai campaign.

Earlier this year, Tesla founder Elon Musk was in Lin-gang to break ground for the company's first overseas factory — the largest foreign-funded manufacturing project yet built in Shanghai.

The Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory will integrate R&D, manufacturing, sales and other functions, with an annual production capacity of about 500,000 all-electric vehicles.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are two key priorities in Lin-gang's industrial development.

Enhancing the area's commitment to science, the Shanghai Planetarium of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is due to open in 2021. The facility will celebrate the history of Chinese astronomy and reflect the future ambitions of the nation's space program.

Lin-gang is also home to Shanghai Ocean University, a pioneer in marine studies and research.

Other emerging industries promoted in Lin-gang are software, information technology, integrated circuitry, aeronautics, energy saving and environmental protection.

Apart from being a bridgehead to serve the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Plan, Lin-gang also further emphasizes service and integration into the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta, and adds such content as "strengthening the coordinated innovation and development with the Yangtze River Delta" and "driving a new round of reform and opening-up in the Yangtze River Delta," according to Chen.