Trade-natured headquarters grow in Shanghai

The number of trade-natured headquarters in Shanghai reached 122 on March 27 when a second group of trade-natured headquarters received certificates from the Shanghai municipal government.

Those headquarters are involved in a variety of businesses such as wholesale and retail, international sales of goods, logistics and warehousing, the international service trade, and platform trading.

They have also become a major force in the city's goal of developing into an international trade center. Their annual sales revenue totaled nearly 4 trillion yuan ($637 billion) last year, accounting for about 40 percent of the city's total sales revenue.

Shanghai has encouraged companies capable of international and domestic resource allocation to set up trade-natured headquarters in the city and passed regulations to support their development.

In 2016, the city approved the first 94 trade-natured headquarters and gave them preferential policies in talent attraction, exit and entry rights, permanent residence permits for foreign workers, financial services, and customs clearance priority.

Shang Yuying, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that Shanghai is expected to become an international trade center able to allocate resources in international and domestic markets on a level appropriate to China's economic and trade status.

Shanghai is also working on developing into an international consumer-driven city of global influence, which would provide trade-natured headquarters with broader growth space.

Shanghai municipal government grants certificates to 28 trade-natured headquarters on March 27. [Photo/Xinmin Evening Post]