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Shanghai Mingles with World's Economy
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| THU, OCT 11, 2001 |
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With a highly desirable location and massive economic strength, China's leading industrial and commercial center, Shanghai has captured worldwide attention.
Statistics for 2000 show that Shanghai introduced 6.39 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment, ranking first in the country.
Up to date, Shanghai has established more than 22,000 foreign-funded enterprises, and more than 50 percent of the world's top 500 multinational corporations have invested in this metropolis in east China. Many of the multinational corporations have included their investment projects in Shanghai into their own global business system.
Shanghai is the supply center of the world's telecom giant Siemens in Asia. Each year, more than 4 million sets of Siemens telecommunications terminals manufactured in Shanghai are exportedto more than 50 countries worldwide.
With the largest harbor in China, Shanghai handles one-fourth of the country's total import and export volume, and its handling capacity of containers ranks the sixth in the world.
The Shanghai port, some 17 million U.S. dollars of international capital flow into the city and more than 30 billion RMB of funds circulate in the local currency and stock markets, handles each day, about 1.5 million tons of cargo.
The development of the Pudong New District since the 1990s is powerful proof of the integration of Shanghai into the global economy.
The area has so far attracted 7,192 foreign-funded projects, with a combined investment of over 36 billion U.S. dollars.
With the inflow of large amounts of foreign funding and popular sales of foreign brand name products, Shanghai also exports more than 20 billion RMB, which is worth of Shanghai-made products to other countries and regions each year.
According to statistics, the city's gross domestic product (GDP) rose to 455.1 billion RMB (54.83 billion U.S. dollars) in 2000 from 27.2 billion RMB (3.27 billion U.S. dollars) in 1978, with the per capita GDP reaching 4,180 U.S. dollars.
To grasp the key opportunities for economic development, Shanghai adjusted its economic structure to make it more adaptable to the world economic development trend. As a result, the service sector, with the banking business as the backbone, has developed rapidly.
At present, more than 3,300 domestic and overseas financial organizations have branches in Shanghai, and over 80 percent of the world's top 50 banks established branch offices in the city.
In 2000, the added value of the finance and insurance industries accounted for 15.2 percent of the city's GDP, and the service sector accounted for more than 50 percent.
At the same time, Shanghai has also made efforts to develop six pillar industries including automobile, steel, chemistry and telecommunications equipment, and high-tech industries including information, bio-medicine and new materials.
While attracting foreign funds, Shanghai also adopted a policy of going beyond its border. Currently, Shanghai has established more than 580 enterprises overseas, involving a total investment of more than 500 million U.S. dollars, according to the city's foreign trade and economic cooperation commission. The investments made by Shanghai's firms in other countries have shifted from the traditional labor-incentive industries to high-tech industries.
The city plans to invest 500 million U.S. dollars to develop a collection of large enterprise groups and multinational corporations solely-funded by Shanghai or with part of the shares controlled by Shanghai within five years.
Foreign trade, a major driving force behind the city's rapid economic development, maintains a robust development trend, with the increase rate hitting 16.9 percent in the first half of the year. The city recorded a trade volume of 109.3 billion RMB (13.16 billion U.S. dollars) in 2000.
According to a plan, the city aims to expand the size of its economy to 2 trillion RMB annually in the first 10 years of the new century, with tertiary industry accounting for more than 60 percent.
To achieve its goal, Shanghai is actively participating in international economic development and cooperation.
Shanghai now has established a very active relationship involving foreign trade, economic exchange and cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies.
Of the city's total foreign investment and foreign trade volume, more than 70 percent comes from the APEC economies.
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