More than 800 events across culture, tourism, commerce, sports, and exhibitions will be held at Shanghai's Xuhui West Bund in 2026, as announced at a media briefing held at West Bund Orbit.

Chen Anda, deputy general manager of Shanghai West Bund Development Group Co, outlined a lineup of flagship events for the year: the Jazz Spring West Bund music festival over the May Day holiday, the Shanghai leg of the FISE World Series and the urban sports carnival in October, and the West Bund Art & Design Week in November.

West Bund Central's Phase II commercial complex will open at the end of this month. Integrating retail, office, residential, and public spaces, the project will introduce a portfolio of debut stores, including the Asia Pacific flagship of high-end chocolate brand L?derach, China's first full-series Issey Miyake flagship, and the first Leica House in the Chinese mainland.

The western section of the West Bund Nature Art Park will open to the public in the first half of 2026, with construction on its eastern section proceeding in tandem to deliver a public space integrating sports, art, and ecology.

From 2021 to 2025, the zone's annual events increased from 100 to over 400, with the number of visitors rising from 3.71 million to 21 million, according to Chen.

In terms of AI incubation, Yang Jingjing, deputy general manager of Shanghai West Bund Development Group Co, noted that less than three years after its launch, the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center now spans over 50,000 square meters of floor space and houses more than 200 incubated enterprises.