Pudong New District Reports Sustained FDI GrowthShanghai's Pudong New District, an emerging financial and trade zone set up in the early 1990s, has recorded sustained increase in its use of overseas investment.Latest statistics show that Pudong has launched over 7,192 joint projects with investors from over 70 countries and regions, involving some 15.7 billion US dollars of contractual investment from overseas. During the January-August period of this year, Pudong launched some 557 overseas-invested projects, bringing about 1.3 billion US dollars of contractual overseas investment, up 73-percent year-on-year and taking up a quarter of Shanghai's total. Tertiary industries now contribute 48 percent to Pudong's gross domestic product, thanks to the growing amount of overseas investment into commerce, trade, finance and real estate sectors, which has added up to 6.3 billion U.S. dollars over the past years. With commercial and trade centers, hi-tech parks, export processing zones and bonded zones, Pudong is now a showcase of state-of-the-art technologies and the world's elite from all industries. Overseas investors have voiced confidence in the market order, credibility and potential in Pudong, said a source here. "Of the world's top 500 transnational corporations, some 146 have invested in over 200 projects in Pudong and 25 have set up their regional headquarters here." Meanwhile, a recent survey by the U.S. Fortune magazine shows that 92 percent of the world's transnational corporations plan to open a regional headquarters in China, and 25 percent consider Shanghai as their top choice. Pudong will step up efforts to ensure a fair, transparent and stable environment for overseas investors, increase their market access, and consequently promote hi-tech industries and foreign trade in the district, said an official. |
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