Major companies invest heavily in Shanghai

Flags in front of the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai [Photo/VCG]

As a growing number of companies come to Shanghai, the city has been striving to create a more favorable business climate in which they can thrive.

To promote the development of emerging enterprises and the city as a whole, Shanghai will continue to deepen reform and opening up efforts and stimulate innovation.

With the arrival of Tesla, Microsoft, IBM, Alibaba and Tencent, Shanghai is planning to implement a more open economic system with high international standards to attract more investors from home and abroad.

Statistics show that there are more than 50,000 foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai, including 677 multinational firms and 444 foreign-invested research and development centers.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, the city encourages foreign investors to invest in advanced manufacturing and will issue a series of supporting policies to facilitate the implementation of major projects.

A Tesla factory in Shanghai has already witnessed the city government's highly efficient management. The largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai as well as the first foreign-invested new energy vehicles manufacturing project in China began construction just six months after being signed into effect.

To encourage more foreign automobile companies to launch high-end vehicle projects in the city, Shanghai will eliminate restrictions on foreign-investment in new energy vehicle manufacturing and lend its full support to projects relating to core auto components such as high-performance motors and batteries.

Shanghai's success in opening-up is further demonstrated by the 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE), which has attracted more than 18,000 enterprises as of April 2, including more than 900 contracting enterprises from 77 countries and regions and more than 180 of the world's top 500 enterprises, according to Liu Fuxue, vice director of CIIE bureau.