Pudong has released a white paper summing up its experiences over the past seven years in improving the business environment.

The White Paper on Law-based Business Environment in the Pudong New Area, the first of its kind in the country, was released on Friday in Chinese and English.

It lists how local authorities have streamlined procedures, launched favorable policies and innovated within the judicial system, among other practices, between 2013 and 2020 to make a steady, open, efficient and fair business environment.

Last year, Pudong became the first in the city to allow remote document verification for enterprises.

“From January 25, 2019 to September 14, 2020, 67,609 people and 26,760 enterprises across China and from 41 foreign countries have made online applications and enjoyed the remote verification service,” said Jiang Hongjun, director of Pudong Business Service Center.

“Shareholders and legal representatives don’t need to take their papers to deal with the administrative procedures. Especially, during the pandemic, it has greatly avoided crowds and increased efficiency.”

Thanks to the good business environment, the number of Pudong’s foreign-funded projects and actual foreign investment has risen by 90 percent and 74 percent from 2013 to 2019, according to Cao Lei, deputy director of Pudong Commerce Commission.

Now, Pudong is home to 233,000 foreign companies, including 340 regional headquarters of multinational companies and 245 foreign-funded research and development centers.

Pudong has also helped China to rise from 96th place in 2013 to the 31st place in 2020 among the 190 economies around the world ranked by the World Bank.