The amount of realized foreign investment in Shanghai last year was $20.2 billion.

This year marks the beginning of the country's 14th Five-Year Plan period, and Gong gave a briefing on the city's five-year plan.

Shanghai will further enhance the roles of the Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the demonstration zone for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta and the Hongqiao Business District as open hubs for the domestic and international markets.

It will build the city's Chongming district into a "world-class ecological island", and restructure industry in its Baoshan and Jinshan districts, which used to rely on the steelmaking and chemical industries.

The city will push three industries－integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence－to grow rapidly and will list six sectors as key industries: electronics and information, automobiles, high-end equipment, advanced materials, healthcare, and fashion and consumer goods.

Shanghai will strive for big breakthroughs in fundamental research in science and key breakthroughs in core technologies. Last year, the city's expenditure on research and development reached 4.1 percent of its GDP.

"We shall put innovation at the core of overall development and fortify Shanghai as a source of innovation in science and technology," Gong said.

As China's financial center, Gong said Shanghai will continue to open its financial market to the world and push for the pilot project of renminbi digital currency. The city is the world's No 3 financial hub, following New York and London, according to last year's Global Financial Centers Index.

In terms of social welfare, Gong said the city will create more than 500,000 new jobs this year, establish 50 comprehensive elderly care centers and complete 10 million square meters of urban renewal targeting old houses in the city center.