Shanghai announces trade promotion policy agenda

A slew of measures to promote international trade and attract foreign investment have been recently unveiled by the municipal government of Shanghai.

The city has rolled out several sets of policies to stabilize foreign investment, imports and exports, which saw positive results, further enhanced Shanghai's function as a trade hub and solidified the city's status as a top choice for foreign investment, Hua Yuan, vice-mayor of Shanghai, said during a news conference on Tuesday.

The 21-item measures for stabilizing foreign trade and the 20-article foreign investment policies were formulated in the context of improved foreign trade and investment, and the East China metropolis' seeking continuous high-quality development amid various challenges, Hua said.

The measures to stabilize imports and exports focus on the steady growth of international trade, exploration of dynamic markets and optimization of cross-border trade. Policies on attracting foreign capital, meanwhile, would be realized through higher standard opening-up, supporting and introducing high-quality foreign capital, as well as offering improved services for foreign investments.

Shanghai recorded 4.19 trillion yuan in imports and exports of goods throughout 2022, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, and its actual use of foreign direct investment amounted to $23.96 billion in 2022, the third year in a row it surpassed $20 billion.

This resilience is expected to continue this year as 681.56 billion yuan worth of goods were imported and exported in the first two months of 2023 and Shanghai's actual use of foreign direct investment rose 18 percent to $4.96 billion during the same period.

Another 11 multinational corporations' regional headquarters and five foreign-funded R&D centers were established in January and February, raising their totals to 902 and 536, respectively.