Shanghai expects to see a 13 percent increase in foreign direct investment from a year earlier to reach US$15 billion in 2010, up from the 4.5 percent growth in 2009, the city's commerce commission said Thursday.

The number of foreign-invested projects may climb 28 percent annually to 3,800 this year, with more of the investments going to the modern services sector, the Shanghai Commission of Commerce said.

Shanghai managed to attract top notch foreign investments worth US$46 billion in environment protection, medical-care equipment, bio-technology and human resources during the 11th Five-Year Plan from 2005 to 2010, Sha Hailin, the commission's chairman, said at a ceremony to award certificates to 20 foreign firms which located their regional headquarters to the city.

By the end of November, 301 multinational companies had set up their regional headquarters in the city, including 74 on the Fortune Global 500 list, while 317 foreign-invested research and development centers were established in the city.

In the first 11 months, foreign investors have channeled US$14 billion into the city, a jump of 16.6 percent annually, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday. In November alone, foreign investment jumped 23.6 percent annually to US$1.37 billion.

Foreign direct investment in China expanded 17.7 percent annually to US$91.7 billion in the first 11 months.