Shanghai remains attractive to foreign investors

Tourists take selfies at the Bund overlooking the financial district of Lujiazui of Shanghai, June 2, 2022. (Photo by Wang Chu/People’s Daily Online)

The Shanghai municipal government lately held a certificate presentation ceremony for the 35th MNC’s regional headquarters and research and development (R&D) centers, during which local government officials awarded certificates to the newly-identified 30 regional headquarters and 10 R&D centers of MNCs (multinational corporations).

Most of these MNCs engage in key industries of Shanghai. Among them, 57.5 percent come from the manufacturing industry, and the rest are from the service sector.

These MNCs include five biopharmaceutical companies, 10 intelligent manufacturing enterprises, three automakers, eight commercial and retail companies, and seven high-end service providers.

Of the 30 MNC’s regional headquarters in Shanghai, nine are the headquarters of MNCs’ Greater China region and above.

As of the end of May, a total of 848 MNC’s regional headquarters and 512 foreign-funded R&D centers had been established in Shanghai, which proved that the city remains a popular destination for foreign investment.

“China’s huge market potential and sound business environment have made us more confident about continuously investing in the country,” said Huang Shaojie, an executive of Dyson Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

China is Dyson’s largest single market in the world, Huang said, adding that the company has opened more than 700 brick-and-mortar stores in the country.

Dyson will soon launch a number of its latest products in Shanghai, and invest 100 million pounds ($123 million) more for localized production, according to Huang.

Global transportation and logistics services provider DSV has registered four companies in China; and all of them are located in Shanghai.

Photo taken on June 15, 2022 shows the bustling Nanjing Road pedestrian walkway in Shanghai. (Photo by Wang Gang/People’s Daily Online)

Noting that China underlined forming a unified national market at a faster pace, Cao Binhui, executive vice president of DSV Shanghai International Freight Co. Ltd. said that DSV is optimistic about the development prospects of China’s logistics market and intends to invest 300 million yuan ($44.78 million) to set up a new warehousing and logistics company in the country.

Eighty percent of the components and parts in Siemens Healthineers’ R&D and production base in Shanghai come from suppliers in the surrounding areas; and more than 70 percent of its products are sold to over 150 countries and regions overseas, according to Kong Jun, general manager of Siemens Shanghai Medical Equipment Ltd., which has been awarded the certificate for foreign-funded R&D center by the Shanghai municipal government.

Recently, Siemens Healthineers released its latest localization strategy, which specified that it will strengthen innovative R&D according to the needs of the Chinese market. Its first in-vitro diagnostic reagent production base in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be completed in Shanghai by the end of the year.

Shanghai has recently rolled out a series of policies and measures to stabilize foreign enterprises’ expectations and confidence in the Chinese economy.

On May 29, the Shanghai municipal government issued an action plan on speeding up economic recovery and revitalization.

Since June 1, the government has held more than 10 online roundtable meetings for foreign-funded enterprises to learn about and address the difficulties they have encountered amid epidemic prevention and control and resumption of work and production.

Besides, Shanghai has established a mechanism to provide specialized services for key foreign-funded enterprises with their resumption of work and production, launched an online service system for major foreign-funded projects, and set in motion the application for this year’s special funds for the development of MNCs’ regional headquarters ahead of schedule.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce stressed that the city will continuously optimize services for foreign-funded enterprises, create a world-class business environment and intensify efforts to support MNCs in setting up regional headquarters and R&D centers in Shanghai.

A worker is busy with production at a factory of Weben Smart Manufacturing System (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Songjiang district, Shanghai, April 29, 2022. (Photo by Jiang Huihui/People’s Daily Online)

The number and magnitude of MNC’s regional headquarters and research and development (R&D) centers in Shanghai have constantly increased, which fully shows that foreign investors’ expectations of and confidence in Shanghai remain unchanged and that Shanghai’s role as an important place for the development of headquarters economy in China and even the entire world remains unchanged.

Shanghai plans to gather pace in promoting opening-up, further giving play to policy effects, and actively creating a world-class business environment to help MNCs and other types of enterprises achieve greater development in the city.