A view of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. [Photo/VCG]

Multinational companies' regional headquarters as well as research and development centers based in Shanghai are now able to apply for the city's development capital, according to an announcement released by Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce on April 12.

A 5-million-yuan ($690,840) subsidy will be granted to multinational companies' regional headquarters to expand or set up new businesses in Shanghai as long as they were registered or moved into the city after July 7, 2008 and obtained the municipal government's certification after Nov 1, 2022.

Applicants for this business subsidy should have a minimum paid-in registered capital of $30 million and its parent company should have authorized it to manage at least one subsidiary. The company should have hired at least 10 people in Shanghai.

The business subsidy will be distributed in three years at a rate of 40 percent, 30 percent and 30 percent for each year.

In addition, for multinational companies' regional headquarters registered or moved into the city after July 7, 2008 and obtained the municipal government's certification after Nov 1, 2022, they will have 30 percent of their rental subsidized as long as the rental is no more than 8 yuan per square meter on a daily basis and the entire office space is within 1,000 sq m. The rental subsidy will be granted for three years.

The company applying for this subsidy should have a paid-in registered capital of at least $2 million and a minimum headcount of 10 people.

For the purchase and construction of office buildings for self-use, excluding ancillary facilities and supporting buildings, a one-time financial subsidy will be given according to the total amount of three-year rental subsidy under same standards, according to the announcement.

Multinational companies' global R&D centers with a headcount of at least 50 full-time staff will be entitled to apply for the same business and rental subsidies as long as they were registered or moved into Shanghai after July 7, 2008 and obtained the municipal government's certification after Dec 1, 2020.

Companies should submit the application for business and rental subsidies within three years after they received Shanghai government's certification for the regional headquarters or global R&D centers.

A one-time high-level reward of 3 million yuan can be given to the multinational companies' regional headquarters for Asia, Asia Pacific or a larger region once the applying company has a paid-in registered capital of above $2 million and hires 50 people. Meanwhile, the company should see at least 10 senior executives appointed by a parent company and relevant to the headquarters' functions are based in Shanghai.

For multinational companies' regional headquarters certified by the municipal government after July 7, 2008, an operational reward will be provided to them as long as their paid-in registered capital is no less than $2 million and the sales revenue for the previous year is above 500 million yuan.

In specific, a one-time 5-million-yuan operational reward will be given to those with their annual income of between 500 million yuan and 1 billion yuan. A one-time 3 million yuan reward will be provided to those with an annual income of between 1 and 1.5 billion yuan. For those whose annual sales revenue topped over 1.5 billion yuan in the previous year, a 2-million-yuan one-time reward will be granted.

Similar rewards will be given to multinational companies' regional headquarters certified by the Shanghai government after Nov 1, 2022, with the only requirement that sales revenue has been raised to 1 billion yuan.

The operational reward will be distributed in three years at a rate of 40 percent, 30 percent and 30 percent for each year.

Multinational companies' regional headquarters which have actually increased their investment in Shanghai by at least $30 million yuan on a yearly basis will be given a one-time reward of 2 million yuan. The applicants for this category must promise in written documents that they will neither reduce or withdraw capital nor transfer capital to domestic partners within three years.

All the applications should be submitted to the district-level commerce regulators by May 10. The reviewed application will be submitted to Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce by June 7.