SAIC Volkswagen tops other MNCs for highest revenue and paying most taxes in 2016

SAIC Volkswagen Automotive generated the highest revenue and paid the most taxes in 2016 among multinational companies in Shanghai, a conference heard today.

The automaker, Apple China and SAIC General Motors Company were ranked top for the highest total revenue on the list of the 2016 top 100 multinational corporations in Shanghai, which was released at a conference on foreign manufacturing investment held in the city today. In terms of total taxes paid, SAIC Volkswagen, Porsche China and SINOPEC Shanghai Petrochemical Company were listed as the top three, .

There are 47,600 foreign-funded enterprises operating in Shanghai, including 614 regional headquarters and 418 research and development centers. These foreign companies, accounting for 2 percent of all companies in number, have contributed 27 percent of Shanghai's gross domestic product, 60 percent of total industrial output of enterprises above a designated size, 65 percent of import and export volume, 33 percent of total taxes, and over 20 percent of employees.

"Foreign companies have become an important engine promoting Shanghai's economic growth and a great power for the innovation and transformation to an advanced manufacturing industry," said Rong Zhiqin, deputy director at the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

Over 9,000 — or one-fifth — of all the foreign companies in the city are in manufacturing, according to a research by the end of 2016.

Foreign companies have produced over 80 percent of the city's total output in the advanced manufacturing industry and this has helped accelerate the  technology and upgrading of the city's manufacturing industry.

"Shanghai sees openness as the greatest advantage in urban development, trying to build a legalized, internationalized and facilitated business environment and a fair, unified and efficient market environment," Liu Jinping, chairman of the Shanghai Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, said at the conference held by the Municipal Commerce Commission and Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission.

Shanghai is also developing itself into a science innovation center by setting up over 400 foreign-invested R&D centers and trained over 40,000 Chinese researchers in advanced technology and innovation.