Shanghai is still one of China’s, and even the world’s, biggest magnets for foreign investment. On November 21, Shanghai granted approval for 25 multinational enterprises to establish their national or regional headquarters in the city, and also for 11 research and development centers.

The companies were granted certification by the Mayor of Shanghai Ying Yong.

They included 24 manufacturing-focused enterprises, seven of which specialize in Shanghai’s strategic emerging industries like bio-pharmaceuticals and semi-conductors. 14 investors are Fortune 500 companies and industry-leaders, such as the Itochu Corporation from Japan, Coca Cola from the US and Quanta Computers from China’s Taiwan.

Since the beginning of this year, Shanghai has been improving its policy system for encouraging and supporting the development of multinational enterprises to establish headquarters and R&D centers in the city. From January to October, Shanghai has attracted 5,670 new foreign-invested projects, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%. During the period, the contractual foreign investment reached USD 42 billion, an increase of 15.5% over last year; and the real foreign investment was over USD 16 billion, an increase of 11.9% year-on-year. As of the end of October, Shanghai has introduced 710 regional headquarters and 453 R&D centers.

RINA China is a regional headquarters of Italy’s RINA S.P.A. According to Andrea Turco, RINA’s senior director for the Asia Pacific Area (APAC), China has become the largest overseas market for Italian enterprises. The certification of the company’s headquarters in Shanghai is therefore a milestone. Considering that Shanghai is building a headquarters base for APAC cruise enterprises and is cementing its place as a globally influential center of the cruise industry, RINA China aims to double its business, equipment and personnel in the next two years.

Japan’s Itochu Corporation was ranked 65th on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. For the past 27 years, the company has set up 16 branches across China. Its Executive Officer, Hidefumi Mizutani, said, its East China headquarters must be in Shanghai. In his eyes, Shanghai is China’s financial center and is therefore the best location for a management enterprise.