Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Since the end of last year, the local manufacturing sector has become most attractive to foreign capital, recording 13,482 overseas-invested companies  or 51 percent of Shanghai's total foreign companies, according to the latest data from the city's industrial and commercial authority.
Research and development centers and investment firms are the hottest areas for foreign capital, the data indicates.
The number of firms in the service sector has increased as well, growing 15 percent.
Large investment projects have maintained their momentum.  Of the total of 26,657 foreign investment enterprises in Shanghai, there were 520 with registered capital of over US$30 million, an increase of 6.56 percent over last year.
In state-run enterprises, the number of companies has declined by 11 percent to 124,158, but their registered capital has jumped 20 percent to an average 11 million yuan (US$1.2 million).  This is a result of the state-assets restructuring programs in the key industries, with more small firms consolidated into larger ones.
For example, the registered capital of the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp after reconstruction has topped 25.8 billion yuan, while that of another giant state firm, Shanghai Electric Group Company, has reached 9.2 billion yuan.
As well, the private sector staged a brisk development in 2004, with a jump of 32 percent to 384,927.