Shanghai looks to attract foreign investment in 'new cities'

Shanghai government is working to attract foreign investment for the five "new cities" in the city's suburbs — Songjiang, Jiading, Fengxian, Qingpu and Nanhui — by holding a series of diverse investment promotional events.

The first event took place on Thursday in Sheshan, a beautiful scenic spot in Songjiang New City. Located in the city's southwest, Songjiang initiated the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Valley, an alliance of nine major cities in the Yangtze River Delta region which also includes Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Suzhou, Huzhou, Xuancheng, Wuhu and Hefei.

The Shanghai Commission of Commerce and Invest Shanghai co-organized the event, which attracted more than 100 people from the government, the consulates general in Shanghai of the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, as well as key foreign-invested enterprises and professional service institutions.

“The commission will focus on further promoting the investment environment in the 'new cities' through diverse activities that make them more familiar to foreign enterprises,” said Li Hong, deputy director-general of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce.

In 2020, Songjiang’s industrial output reached 447.7 billion yuan (US$68.81 billion), the total value of imports and exports stood at 305.57 billion yuan and fixed-asset investment was 60.5 billion yuan, behind only the Pudong New Area in the three main economic indicators, according to Chen Rong, director of the Songjiang Commission of Commerce.

“Songjiang has set six strategic emerging industries as priorities —  artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, biological medicine, new energy, intelligent security and new materials,” Chen said. "In addition, Songjiang has vast tourism and entertainment resources. More than 700 film and television firms are based in Songjiang. To date, Songjiang has attracted 6,180 foreign companies from 128 countries and territories."