Building an engine of growth

Shanghai's skyscrapers and auto industry bear testimony to how the reform and opening-up have transformed the metropolis and surrounding cities. Erik Nilsson explores its development as the starting point of a 2,000-kilometer journey along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of the six-part Yangtze diaries series based on journalist Erik Nilsson's recent 35-day, 2,000-kilometer journey to 11 cities to discover how the Yangtze River Economic Belt has transformed over the 40 years since the reform and opening-up.

I was almost run over by a robot in a car factory in Shanghai. Indeed, I suddenly found myself in the path of an automated machine that whizzes along a track on a Volkswagen plant's floor to move auto parts from one place to another.