nternational trade is dominated by shipping. In China, in addition to the coastal provinces, almost all the other southern provinces need shipping along the Yangtze River for long-distance bulk cargo transportation. Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and there is the Huangpu River for ships to take shelter from the wind. Therefore, all import and export shipping along the Yangtze River passes through Shanghai. Both sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai have witnessed the convergence of logistics, commercial development and the inflow of capital and talents, representing not only the transformation of Shanghai, but also the development of China's international trade.

The picture above shows the Huangpu River at the beginning of liberation in 1949. When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Pudong, along the Huangpu River in Shanghai, was a wilderness. The turning point happened after the reform and opening up in the 1978, and especially the development and opening up of Pudong New Area in April 18^th, 1990. The east side of Huangpu River was open to development, releasing great potential of Shanghai’s geographical advantages and bringing about a new leap in the economy of Yangtze Delta Area and the whole Yangtze River valley.

The development on both sides of the Huangpu River first provided strong financial support for international trade. On the east side, Lujiazui, with an area of 5.4 square kilometers, has been designated as an important hosting area of the international financial center. Thanks to the foresight of the CPC Central Committee, Lujiazui has rebuilt a world-renowned City in just a few decades, becoming an economic growth pole with the most intensive investment institutions, the most perfect market elements and the strongest gathering and distributing functions in China.

At the same time, the west side of Huangpu River has also quickly transformed. It started in the 1990s when the Shanghai Municipal People's Government was the first to vacate the building on the bund, and its new owner was the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which became a landmark event of "revitalizing the strength of the financial street". In 1998, American International Assurance (AIA) became the first foreign financial institution to return to the former "Wall Street in the Far East". By 1999, the original 34 bank buildings on the Bund ushered in new owners one after another: Citibank of the United States returned to Building 19, Bangkok Bank of Thailand, Agricultural Bank of China, Everbright Bank, China Foreign Exchange Trade Center and other banks gathered in the Bund. The prosperity of financial institutions has provided strong professional support for the shipping, international settlement and letter of credit transactions of cargo ships on the Huangpu River.

However, in the 1990s, Shanghai's port trade hit a bottleneck after rapid development. Ships are getting bigger and bigger. It is urgent to jump out of the Huangpu River and cross the Yangtze River estuary to build a deep-water port in the sea. Through scientific demonstration, public visits and unit construction, the CPC Central Committee has promoted the establishment of a number of deep-water port docks, international trade free trade zones and international container companies, providing infrastructure, policy and commercial support for the development of the shipping industry along the Huangpu River. This is a shot in the arm for the international trade industry; After the opening of the port, the wharf is busy and lively. Four years later, Shanghai has overtaken Singapore to become the world's busiest container port. Now the Shanghai Container Freight Index has become a bellwether of the shipping market, and the container throughput has ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years.

Strolling along the banks of the Huangpu River today, freighters still carry goods from all over the country, sending them to distant shores. But unlike a century ago, today's trade is not just a fair deal in a globalized world, but a testing ground for free-trade schemes with Chinese characteristics. In 2017, the State Council issued the Plan for Comprehensively Deepening the Reform and Opening up of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which proposed the establishment of free trade port zones within special customs supervision areas such as the Yangshan Bonded Port Zone in Shanghai and the Shanghai Pudong Comprehensive Bonded Airport Zone. This plan, also known as the 3.0 version of the reform of Shanghai Free Trade Zone, carries more expectations of institutional innovation and trade construction. Today, Shanghai's foreign trade has prospered, with a large number of ships passing along the Huangpu River every day, spreading confidence in China's economy and export trade to the rest of the world

Huangpu River is the mother river of Shanghai, which nurtured the growth history of Shanghai in modern times. Since the middle of the 19th century, with the benefit of geographical location and water transportation, coastal financial and trade industry, port transportation industry and modern industry have gradually emerged and developed, driving the prosperity of international finance and trade and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in Shanghai. The surging river has witnessed Shanghai's development from a little-known fishing village to an international metropolis that stands out in the world. Nowadays, Shanghai has become a modern international socialist metropolis with the best business environment and a hot spot for international investors from all over the world, constantly injecting new funds, talents, policies and other all-round support to international trade along the Huangpu River.