Shanghai’s foreign capital inflows up 4.5 percent in Q1 despite COVID-19
By Tian Hong, Xie Weiqun, People’s Daily
The year 2020 marks the 30th
anniversary of the development and opening-up of Shanghai’s Pudong New Area,
and the final year for the metropolis to basically build itself into an
international financial center.
Shanghai has made steady
progress in the opening-up of its financial market. On March 20, five well-known
foreign financial institutions held an online opening ceremony for their
projects in the municipality’s Lujiazui financial hub. Among them, J.P. Morgan
Securities (China) Company Limited is one of the first newly established
foreign-controlled joint venture securities firms in the country, and Korean
Reinsurance Company Shanghai Branch is the South Korean company’s first
business entity in China.
Another 18 multinational
companies signed contracts expressing their intention to establish
regional headquarters in the Pudong New Area on April 29.
“Shanghai is at the forefront
of China’s reform and opening-up endeavor, and is one of the most attractive destinations
for foreign investment in China,” said Yoon Sung-Muk, general
manager of the Shanghai branch of the reinsurance company.
Scaling up investment in
Shanghai and China at large has become the consensus and common choice of a host
of top international financial institutions. In the first quarter of the year,
the city saw foreign capital inflows totaling about $4.67 billion, up 4.5
percent year on year. In particular, foreign capital inflows hit $1.87 billion
in March in the city, up 20.8 percent year on year.
In total, actual foreign
investment in Shanghai had reached $264.2 billion, and the regional
headquarters of 730 foreign-funded multinational companies (MNC), as well as
466 foreign-funded R&D centers, had landed in the city by the end of March.
Shanghai has become the city
on the Chinese mainland accommodating the largest number of foreign-funded MNC regional
headquarters and R&D centers.
Gong Zheng, acting mayor of
Shanghai, awarded certificates to a new batch of 21 foreign-funded MNC regional
headquarters and R&D centers in the city on April 8. Two of the 31
companies are Fortune 500 companies, and three have set their Shanghai
headquarters as their headquarters covering Greater China, Asia Pacific or
larger regions.
Shanghai is not only the
gateway to the Chinese market, but also an important part of the regional and
global economy, said Tsuji Takayoshi, general manager of Itochu Textile (China)
Limited, adding that the company will actively develop e-commerce business, and
bring more brands to the Chinese market.
Shanghai has continuously improved
its business environment. The city released the English and Japanese versions
of documents such as the 28 measures to cushion companies in the service sector
against the COVID-19 epidemic, in order to help foreign enterprises to resume
work and production as soon as possible during the epidemic prevention and
control period.
The Shanghai Municipal
Commission of Commerce has visited 720 foreign-funded MNC regional headquarters
in the city, solving about 98.7 percent of 553 problems they encountered.
On April 10, the city rolled
out 24 measures to stabilize foreign investment, creating open and convenient
investment environment for foreign investors.
Hua Yuan, director of the municipal commission
of commerce, said the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in severe impacts on the global
economy, but the momentum of the steady growth for China’s economy has never
changed and will be an underlying trend going forward.
The China International Import Expo is showing
increasing spillover effects, said the official, adding that a series of
polices such as counter-cyclical regulation and further opening-up, as well as
new consumption and demands will foster new areas of consumption and new growth
points.
Customers visit the first Tesla
experience store which officially opened in the Wujiaochang business district
in Shanghai on May 9. Photo by Ma
Weiqin/People’s Daily Online
Shanghai’s foreign capital inflows up 4.5 percent in Q1 despite COVID-19
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