Financial center's GDP has doubled over the past decade, ranking fourth in the world, ranking fourth in the past decade.
On October 29, 2021, people walk by a garden with an image of Jinbao, the panda mascot of the China International Import Expo, Shanghai. The PHOTO IC Shanghai, which is set to host the fifth edition of the China International Import Expo in November, will continue to embrace global business for its future development, said the city's deputy party chief on Monday.
Some 270 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders are confirmed to be attending, according to the mayor of Shanghai, Gong Zheng, who said 85 percent of the exhibition space has been booked.
He said that the annual expo held shows China's determination to open its domestic market to the world and its confidence in an open global economy.
As a national-level import-themed trade fair, the expo has accelerated the upgrading of Shanghai as a global trade center with businesses and logistics integrated with cities in the Yangtze River Delta, China's economic powerhouse, as well as other major trade hubs in the Asia Pacific region, said Gong.
During previous editions of the CIIE, more than 3,000 brands have debuted products, an indication that Shanghai is now one of the leading destinations for businesses to launch new products and services, he said.
The Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, Jens Hildebrandt, said it had participated in the expo from the beginning.
His companies signed contracts worth $17 billion last year through the CIIE, and small and medium-sized German enterprises were able to boost their sales in the market, he said.
In the past decade, Shanghai has been tasked with a series of national strategies, including setting up the country's first free trade zone, piloting a registration-based initial public offering system on its sci-tech innovation board, and leading the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.
Policies promoting innovation and facilitating trade have taken shape in the Pudong New Area, which was allocated last year as a pioneering area for socialist modernization after it celebrated the 30th anniversary of its opening in 2020.
The city government has made attracting global talent and investment its top priority, according to Wu Qing, executive vice-mayor of Shanghai.
In the first half of this year, Shanghai still maintained growth in actual use of foreign capital despite a complex international situation and the grave impact of the COVID 19 outbreak, and welcomed 26 new regional headquarters belonging to multinational corporations, said Wu.
More than 60,000 foreign companies are doing business in Shanghai. There are a total of 857 multinationals who have chosen Shanghai as their regional headquarters, and 516 have established research and development centers in the city.