Pudong—literally "The East Bank of the Huangpu River"—originally referred only to the less-developed land across from Shanghai's
Old City and
foreign concessions. The area was mainly farmland and only slowly developed, with warehouses and wharfs near the shore administered by the districts of
Puxi on the west bank:
Huangpu,
Yangpu, and
Nanshi. Pudong was originally established as a county in 1958 until 1961 when the county was split among
Huangpu,
Yangpu,
Nanshi,
Wusong and
Chuansha County. Premier
Li Peng announced the policy of Pudong's
opening and development on April 18, 1990. Speaking at a celebration for the fifth anniversary of the Shanghai Volkswagen Corporation, Li stated that "some policies of the economic and technological zones and Special Economic Zones can be implemented in the Pudong area". Li stated that future investors from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan were welcomed and that China would provide preferential conditions for cooperation and improve the investment environment. Pudong's description as a New Area served to distinguish it from existing SEZs. It had even more open policies than existing SEZs, in terms of attracting
foreign direct investment and developing the local economy. The western tip of the Pudong district was designated as the
Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone and has become a financial hub of modern China. Several landmark buildings were constructed, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the
supertall Jin Mao Building (), Shanghai World Financial Center () and Shanghai Tower (), the world's first trio of adjacent supertall skyscrapers. These buildings—all along Century Avenue and visible from the historic Bund—now form the most common
skyline of Shanghai. In official discourses on
urbanization in China, Pudong is considered the paradigmatic example of the 1990s approach to urbanization. On May 6, 2009, it was disclosed that the
State Council had approved the proposal to merge
Nanhui District with Pudong and comprise the majority of eastern Shanghai. In 2010, Pudong was host to the main venues of the
Shanghai Expo, whose grounds now form a
public park. Pudong New Area consists of the original Pudong County (northeastern portion of Shanghai County),
Chuansha County, and
Nanhui County. == Climate ==