Shanghai tops China in attracting multinational headquarters

SHANGHAI - About 60 multinational corporations have set up their Asia Pacific or Asian headquarters in Shanghai, more than in any other city in the Chinese mainland, according to data revealed on Sunday.

The statistics from the city's commerce commission also showed that, as of the end of September, about 77.1 percent of Shanghai's 393 regional multinational headquarters were involved in manufacturing and 22.9 percent of them were involved in the service sector.

Enterprises from the United States cover 32.6 percent of the multinational corporations with regional headquarters in Shanghai. And enterprises from Europe and Japan cover 25.4 and 23.7 percent, respectively.

Shanghai has issued a package of new policies, including subsidies and duty exemptions, to encourage more multinationals to set up corporate headquarters and R&D centers in the finacial hub of China.

New regional multinational headquarters in Shanghai will be able to receive a launch subsidy of 8 million yuan (about $1.27 million) in three years, while foreign R&D centers will enjoy duty-free imports of facilities and equipment for their own use.

The new policies are intended to encourage foreign-funded companies to divert their management and innovation resources to China in order to transform the local economy amid the global recession, said Wang Xinpei, deputy director of Shanghai's commerce commission.

The city attracted $17.5 billion in contractual foreign investment in the first three quarters this year, with $12.2 billion already in actual use, a rise of 13.3 percent and 22.1 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.