City lures new multinationals for investment

SHANGHAI has signed up with a new batch of multinationals to increase investment amid a latest round of investment promotion initiatives to strengthen its foothold to attract more overseas players.

Investment deals totalling US$6.47 billion from 63 foreign investment projects were agreed on yesterday, covering key industries such as biomedicine, electronic information, automotive and digital economy.

A total of 34 multinationals’ regional headquarters and 17 research and development centers were also accredited yesterday.

The first batch of 10 professional service providers have been accredited as official partners for Shanghai’s foreign investment promotions as the city seeks to better leverage their expertise and operations network to expand its influence and appeal to overseas investors.

Leading consultancy firms and professional service providers like Deloitte China, PwC and CBRE are included.

Through tighter relationships with industry and trade promotion agencies and third-party institutions, the city also boosts its links with potential investors in various industries.

Inviting leading industry players and service providers to locate their operations and headquarters in Shanghai is a crucial part of the city’s continuous opening-up and reforms to woo investors.

By the end of January, Shanghai was home to 962 regional headquarters of multinational companies and 563 foreign-funded research and development centers.

Frederico Freire Jardim, Asia president of Kraft Heinz, said the firm plans to invest tens of millions of yuan this year at its Jinshan plant on smart manufacturing to further enhance energy efficiency. It regards China as a strategic market and growth engine and remains committed to local consumers.

Having moved its Asian headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai in 2020, it retains a strong confidence in China’s economic development in the long run.

Alan Li, president at CBRE China, believes the firm could better serve the city’s investment promotional activities and help overseas and local players to become more deeply rooted here.

Lily Ma, human capital management firm ADP’s North Asia general manger, said that locating its North Asia headquarters in Shanghai allows it to better integrate resources to serve both local and global customers.