Shanghai has long been a top choice for foreign investment — it currently boasts over 75,000 foreign-funded enterprises, with a cumulative paid-in foreign direct investment now totaling over $360 billion.

In particular, the city is home to 1,037 regional headquarters of multinational corporations and 603 foreign-funded research and development centers.

Adding to the momentum, a foreign investment promotion event was held in Shanghai's Minhang district on May 21.

Nearly 30 global partners of Shanghai and 40 investment promotions agencies gathered there to swap industry insights, practical experiences, cutting-edge information and professional perspectives.

Tang Chao, an official from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, emphasized the city's commitment to openness and cooperation — calling on participants to leverage its industrial ecosystem, R&D strength and talent advantages for mutual benefit.

Xu Jun, a partner at KPMG China, said that great things were expected of the company's new KPMG Campus office— which opened last year in the Minhang section of the Hongqiao International Central Business District.

It's expected to become the largest workspace for KPMG, a London-based global organization of independent firms providing audit, tax and advisory services.

He expressed KPMG's determination to support enterprises in the Hongqiao International Open Hub, the Yangtze River Delta and indeed in China to expand globally.

Minhang — with its strategic location, comprehensive transportation network and pivotal role in connecting Shanghai with the Yangtze River Delta — is widely seen as being a crucial hub for global dialogue and a key player in the global industrial chain.

The district is currently home to over 11,000 foreign-funded enterprises, including 73 regional HQs of multinational corporations MNCs and 103 foreign-funded R&D centers. In fact, more than 110 foreign-funded enterprises among Fortune Global 500 companies have either invested or set up plants there.

In recent years, Minhang has implemented its "north-south linkage" development strategy — propelling innovation-driven advanced manufacturing to the high end in the south, while elevating modern services to a higher level around the Hongqiao International Open Hub in the north. That's gradually positioned it at the forefront of Shanghai's high-quality economic development.

Zhang Xian, Minhang's deputy district head, called for collaboration with global partners to capitalize on resource integration opportunities at the Grand neoBay innovation park and the Hongqiao International Open Hub, attract high-quality foreign-funded enterprises, introduce global innovation and experiences and to foster industrial upgrading and innovative synergies in the district.

The event unveiled the 2025 Shanghai Foreign Investment Policy Highlights — featuring 74 policies and over 200 practical measures that are tailored to foreign investors and foreign-funded enterprises' key interests in various sectors such as biopharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, finance and commerce.

During the event, five projects of Minhang-based businesses were promoted — including Enesource green tech company — seeking cooperation and resource integration.

Participants also went on visiting places like the Grand neoBay's sci-tech innovation source zone and the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute — experiencing firsthand robust capabilities and innovative momentum of Minhang's industrial ecosystem.

Source: Minhang district government