Shanghai will intensify efforts to attract and effectively utilize foreign investment by further optimizing its business environment and expanding its opening-up advantages, a senior municipal official said at a press conference on March 28.

Hua Yuan, a vice mayor of Shanghai, made the remarks at the press conference organized by the State Council Information Office themed "Promoting High-Quality Development".

Shanghai has long prioritized attracting foreign investment and its utilization, Hua said, adding that the city has rolled out a raft of measures including revising and improving policies for regional headquarters of multinationals and implementing an upgraded plan for foreign-invested research and development centers.

He revealed that Shanghai's actual utilization of foreign investment has exceeded $20 billion for four consecutive years. In 2023, the figure hit a new high of $24 billion. The city has utilized over $350 billion in foreign investment to date, allowing over 70,000 foreign-invested enterprises to thrive.

Shanghai also witnessed increases of 65 regional headquarters and 30 foreign-invested R&D centers in 2023, bringing the cumulative totals to 956 and 561, respectively, making Shanghai the most concentrated location for regional headquarters of multinational companies on the Chinese mainland.

"These figures fully demonstrate that Shanghai remains one of the most preferred investment destinations for foreign businesses and a prime location for global industrial chain layouts of multinationals," Hua said.

Shanghai will implement the national negative list for cross-border trade in services and the new negative list for foreign investment access. It will ensure assurances, high-efficiency approvals, and seamless services for more foreign investment projects, Hua said.

At the same time, Shanghai will raise the level of opening up by steadily improving institutional openness, removing foreign investment access restrictions in manufacturing, and further opening up the services sector.

Hua said the city will intensify investment promotion efforts by leveraging international cooperation platforms, hosting overseas roadshows, and supporting foreign firms to invest more in green development, digital transformation, technological innovation, and other key areas.

Enterprise services will also be enhanced by refining the dedicated team and commissioner service mechanism for foreign investment projects, improving the key enterprise service system, resolving their practical difficulties and issues, and implementing measures to optimize the business environment, said the vice mayor.