The Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce and the Chongming district government signed a strategic cooperation agreement on Thursday to promote private companies of smart manufacturing to set their headquarters on Changxing Island.

At the signing ceremony, seven companies, including Shanghai Electric and West House, also signed deals with the Changxing Maritime Equipment Industrial Park to base their projects in the park.

Before the ceremony, more than 100 entrepreneurs organized by the federation went on a tour to the Jiangnan Shipyard, Apollo Pacific Innovation Park and Lingang Changxing Sci-tech Park in the island.

Shou Ziqi, chairman of the federation, said the cooperation will help attract more companies to the industrial park as the two parties will work together to improve the business environment for private companies in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

Located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the Changxing Island is part of Shanghai’s Chongming district and focuses on shipbuilding industry.

Li Zheng, Party chief of Chongming district, said the government aims to promote the development of a marine equipment industry cluster on Changxing Island worth 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion).

Yu Cong, chairman of the Changxing Maritime Equipment Industrial Park, said 23 projects with a total investment of 17.5 billion yuan will start construction in the park by the end of this year.