Shanghai unveils new bonus to attract investment

A package of measures aimed to attract more investments with a maximum incentive of 100 million yuan ($14.54 million) was announced by the Shanghai government on Thursday during an investment promotion event in the metropolis.

Pacts for projects valued at more than 67.4 billion yuan were inked during the event on Thursday, according to government information.

Headquarters projects may get up to a 10 million yuan subsidy for property buying or leasing and major investment projects can receive an award of up to 100 million yuan, said Li Zheng, vice-mayor of Shanghai, during the Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference 2023, which kicked off on Thursday.

Capital support is part of the latest investment promotion policies. By providing tailor-made measures for boosting enterprises' investment confidence, the new regulations mainly focus on the development of the city's three leading industries — integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence; and four "new track" industries — digital economy, low carbon, metaverse and smart devices — attracting high-quality projects and accelerating the cultivation of emerging industries.

Chen Jining, Party secretary of Shanghai, said during the event that Shanghai welcomes enterprises and talent to settle down and invest. The metropolis will continue to fully exert its strengths in global resources allocation, business environment, technology and talent, and modern urban governance.

A total of 26 major projects were inked during the event, which covers a wide range of industries such as life science and healthcare, automobiles and high-end equipment.

For example, healthcare company Haleon is about to spend 1 billion yuan on building a health products production base in the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

"The all-around support we received in Shanghai and the local government's rapid response, passion and creative working spirit impressed us and served as a great support for our development," said Gu Haiying, Haleon senior vice-president and general manager for the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong operations.

Gu said Haleon is fully confident in its Chinese business development and will make the China market a strategic focus for its global development.

There have been more than 500 major projects with a combined investment value exceeding 1 trillion yuan reached during the past two versions of the event.

During the conference, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng said 10 international organizations and corporations, including US-based Tishman Speyer Properties, Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd and London-based real estate service provider Savills, served as partners promoting global investment in Shanghai this year.

The promotional event is part of Shanghai's efforts to offer a prime business environment and build itself into a magnet for global investment.

Shanghai has rolled out rounds of measures to stabilize foreign investment and imports and exports in the past few years, which have received positive results, further enhanced Shanghai's function as a trade hub, and solidified the city's reputation as a topnotch choice for foreign investment, said Hua Yuan, vice-mayor of Shanghai, during a news conference on Tuesday.

In 2022, Shanghai recorded 4.19 trillion yuan in imports and exports, up 3.2 percent year-on-year. Shanghai's actual use of foreign direct investment amounted to $23.96 billion, the third year in a row to surpass $20 billion, Hua said.

Such a trend is expected to continue this year, as 681.56 billion yuan worth of goods have been imported and exported in the first two months, and Shanghai's actual use of foreign direct investment has grown 18 percent year-on-year to $4.96 billion during the same period.

Hua said that 11 multinational corporations' regional headquarters and five foreign-funded research and development centers were established in the first two months, raising their total number to 902 and 536, respectively.