By Ian Jolly BBC 2's Working Lunch

To measure Shanghai's potential as an economic powerhouse you need only to stand on the famous Bund and look across the river.

In barely 10 years, the shining metropolis of Pudong has been carved from a landscape of farmland and swamp.

The changes are extraordinary and the thing is the pace is increasing

Lance Browne Businessman

Political will enabled the development to happen, but sheer human effort saw it created in so short a time.

And still the building goes on, with plans for new roads and railways, underground lines and an elevated train link to the airport.

As China's move to a market economy gathers pace, spurred by the country's acceptance into the World Trade Organisation, it has big plans for Shanghai.

It wants to see this teeming city of 17 million people once more become Asia's commercial centre.

Planet's biggest building site

British businessman Lance Browne has watched the city grow.

"If somebody had said that Shanghai was going to be like this in 20 years' time they'd have got the doctor," he says.

The building never seems to stop

"The changes are extraordinary and the thing is the pace is increasing, going faster and faster, more and more changes all the time.

"And now, with China entering the WTO, that is going to hot up even further."

Driving in from the sparkling new international airport, you'll pass hundreds of cranes.

At its peak, half the world's high-rise cranes were said to be here, on the planet's biggest building site, constructing the apartment blocks, offices and public buildings that make up Pudong.

Foreign investment

It is also home to the Jinmao Tower, part commercial, part hotel and, at 420 metres, one of the world's tallest buildings. An even bigger one is planned.

And then there are the vast factories, vital to attract valuable foreign investment.

A model showing Shanghai in 2020

Already the area is a magnet for overseas companies wanting to get a foothold in the world's biggest market.

Volkswagen turns out half of China's cars in Pudong; Kodak and Coca-Cola are among other big names there.

And Shanghai is expected to become the world's second largest port after Singapore, with annual freight of more than 250 m tonnes by the end of the year.

Higher salaries

This rapid growth means that Shanghai now accounts for nearly a quarter of China's total foreign trade.

In July, exports were up 19.2% on the same month last year.

What happens to these manufacturers when WTO regulations kick in is another matter.

Lance Browne: Productivity is higher

High tariffs will fall, allowing in more imports, and the economic incentives offered by China could appear less attractive.

But for the moment, Shanghai's star is rising, and with it the lifestyles of the people, who have seen wages shoot up to double the national average.

Lance Browne thinks the workers deserve it.

"Salaries in Shanghai are higher than in the country but productivity is much higher too," he explains.

Skilled workforce

"It's not just how much you pay per hour but how much you get in output per hour and Shanghai has a very skilled workforce, very hard working, well educated."

There's a feeling that the government is siphoning off business to Shanghai

But all this success is not pleasing to Hong Kong, which has always been seen as China's commercial heart.

Since the hand back by the UK in 1997 and the Asian economic crisis, Hong Kong has been in the doldrums.

There is concern that the Chinese government is encouraging Shanghai's development at Hong Kong's expense.

House prices have plunged, leaving people unable to sell. Those who can are eager to leave.

Hong Kongers' loss of confidence

"There's a feeling that the government is siphoning off business to Shanghai," said one businessman who has just moved to the mainland.

"People definitely think that Shanghai is being made more attractive to poach business from Hong Kong."

Trevor Lewis: Loss of confidence in Hong Kong

But Trevor Lewis, commercial head at the British Consulate General in Shanghai, is more bullish.

He thinks it is more a question of businesses looking to complement their Hong Kong bases rather than relocating them.

"The biggest problem seems to be the loss of confidence among the Hong Kongers themselves rather than the fact that Shanghai is a major competitor to them," says Mr Lewis.

"Many Hong Kongers have started to set up in Shanghai. I think they see they need to be on the mainland now and are moving some of their manufacturing and offices here.

"There's no doubt that Shanghai will start to compete but it still has some way to go to catch up with Hong Kong," he says.

The former mayor of Shanghai, Xu Kuangdi, likened the situation to having two great strikers in the same football team.

But when you visit the city's Urban Planning Exhibition Center and see the huge and confident model of how Shanghai will have expanded by 2020, you can't help thinking one of the players will soon be relegated to a lower league.