Shanghai Is Now the World’s Most Connected City

By the end of 2020, Shanghai had replaced London as the world’s most connected city. Shanghai – the global financial hub, is also China’s biggest city and one of the most developed in the whole world. It has two international airports (Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao Airport) that handle all the air travel in and out of the city. 

Interestingly, air travel in and out of London had declined by over 67% since the end of September 2020, which saw it lose its number one spot as the most connected city to Shanghai, given that China started easing its travel restrictions earlier than the UK. This saw the rest of other Chinese cities like Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Beijing also overtake London during the same period. The fact that Shanghai didn’t have lots of Covid19 cases even made it easier for the authorities to ease the lockdown measures much sooner than most of the world’s cities. 

By the end of September 2020, Shanghai and most cities in China were fully operating. During the Golden Week between 1st and 7th October, China’s tourism ministry reported that over 425 million people traveled worldwide. China also agreed to have quarantine-free travel with countries like Japan and Singapore sooner than most cities. 

Having quarantine-free travel made cities like Shanghai more accessible for most people that didn’t want to go through the hustle of being quarantined before being allowed to go about their business. This further increased air travel in Shanghai compared to other cities that still had measures like the 14 days quarantine for all travelers. 

How does Shanghai benefit from this increase in air connectivity?

• According to the International Air Transport Association, air connectivity impacts labor’s overall productivity in any economy. For instance, a 10% rise in air connectivity can lead to a 0.07% rise in labor productivity. The increase in labor productivity leads to growth in the GDP of the economy. The impact, however, depends on how much an economy depends on air travel. 
• More employment for people that are directly and indirectly employed by companies that offer services in line with aviation and tourism. In Shanghai, more people traveling to this city means more tourism income, creating more jobs for people in this sector. 
• More tax revenue. More people traveling to Shanghai led to an increase in the countries’ tax revenue generated from travel fees paid by those who get into the country.  

Now that Shanghai is the most connected city, the debate will now be how long will it be able to sustain that position now that several other cities are slowly getting back to full operation in terms of air travel. However, even before the pandemic, this city’s air travel was gradually growing, giving it a high chance of maintaining this position despite other cities opening up.