ABSTRACT
Metropolitan Shanghai functions as the financial, commercial and population center of China, capable of providing the wide range of skills, goods and services otherwise lacking in this newly modernizing country. Of all the locations studied, Shanghai provides the best example of a multinational learning zone, characterized by a large number of foreign firms engaged in manufacturing activities in proximity to Chinese firms, research and development entities, and similar locations both within and outside designated STIPs. Pudong, the new area constructed in the 1990s, particularly illustrates a planned attempt to integrate Western economic conditions in a Chinese setting (Olds, 2001). Beyond and even more important than the presence of mixed MNC and local firms, networks to promote learning such as the American Chamber of Commerce, and various industry cross-cutting, occupation-based organizations, function more effectively here than elsewhere. As predicted by learning district theory in Chapter 2, such a situation holds great promise for Shanghai's continued vibrancy as the commercial center of the country.
