In 2003, Hongqiao Development Zone started a new round of development by building high-class office buildings to attract more foreign-funded enterprises to settle in.

However, since 2003, the preferential policy offered by the government had fallen due and China had been the member of WTO for more than one year, all the enterprises in the development zone, no matter foreign-funded or domestic ones, would enjoy equivalent national treatment. As a result, the development zone has lost its dominance in terms of policy. At the meantime, the economy of the development zone's surrounding areas is blooming rapidly, shifting from subordinating to the development zone to competing with it on the same market and sharing benefits. According to the development strategy of "Developing Changning by Relying on Hongqiao, Building Great Hongqiao Commerce and Trade Area", Changning District provides Hongqiao Development Zone with the great opportunities to strengthen its functions, accumulate its advantages and re-develop itself, pushing the development zone to the historical stage again. After several years' development, the total area of all kinds of facilities and buildings which had been built up by the end of June 2006, including business buildings, hotels, exhibition facilities, malls and high-class apartments, is up to 2,150,000 square meters, among which economic facilities such as business buildings, offices and malls accounts for 1,670,000 square meters and high-class apartments 480,000 square meters. In the 0.65-square-kilometer core area Hongqiao development zone, 1,340,000-square-meter facilities have been built, including the Maxdo Center Building, the Shanghai Mart, and the New Town Center Building, among which business and office buildings take up 500,000 square meters, exhibition facilities 300,000 square meters, hotels 280,000 square meters, and high-class apartments 260,000 square meters. The economic buildings in the central section and the extended section take up 810,000 square meters, among which business and office buildings take up 590,000 square meters, and high-class apartments 220,000 square meters.

Presently, 760,000-square-meter buildings are under construction, among which business and office buildings and hotels take up 530,000 square meters, and high-class apartments 230,000 square meters.

There are a lot of world-known transnational corporations and executive offices gathering in Hongqiao area, including GE, Unilever, Eriksson and 3M etc. Within the 1,77-square-kilometer Hongqiao area, there are about 3,500 legal entity enterprises so far, among which there are more than 1,900 foreign-funded companies and executive offices, accounting for 54%. Within the 0.65-square-kilometer core area Hongqiao Development Zone, there are about 2,000 legal entity companies (about 55% of which are foreign-funded companies and executive offices), while within the central section, there are about 1,500 legal entity enterprises (about 53% of which are foreign-funded companies and executive offices).

In 2005, the total tax amount within the 1.77-square-kilometer area reached some RMB1.5 billion, and there were 6 buildings with tax amount of over RMB100 million respectively, including one building located in the extended section, accounting for 67% of the buildings in the District with tax amount more than RMB100 million.

The Research Center for “High-performance Broadband Information Network”, one of the scientific research projects of the national 863 program, the Changning Information Park, the Shanghai Fashion Hub, the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT) Gubei Campus, the Shanghai University of Engineering Science Xianxia Campus and the Shanghai Vocational Training Center are all located in the development zone. By June this year, the Changning Information Park had gathered 233 information enterprises, and there had been 90 software companies with the accreditation at municipal level. Twenty-five international and national industrial associations, design institutes, enterprises of talent training, animation production and apparel had settled in Shanghai Fashion Hub. The SIFT has built the Post-graduate Training Center and the WTO Training Center, and is preparing to construct the WTO Training Building. The “High-performance Broadband Information Network” has been successfully applied among 10,000 users in Gubei New Area and is still in further development.

Besides, the Hongqiao Friendship Shopping Center and many other foreign consumption places have begun to take shape, and catering businesses from different parts of the world has grown mature, which pulled forward the sale of high-class buildings around Xianxia, Tianshan and Xinjin Town. Many foreigners choose to live in high-class apartments or villas along Hongqiao Road, and many also choose to settle down in the Hongqiao Development Zone.