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Shanghai, the business and financial center of China, is determined to build a more effectivepurchasing platform to facilitate multinational corporations.
By the end of 2003, foreign companies' purchases from the Yangtze River Delta via Shanghai are expected to reach eight billion U.S. dollars annually, which is 23 percent of the city's total exports today.
That figure is expected to increase to 18 billion U.S. dollars by 2005 and further to 50 billion by 2010, almost equal to the city's gross domestic product for the year 2000.
Economists here believe that following China's entry into the World Trade Organization, it is a logical step for Shanghai to become an international purchasing center, and this is important for the city's industrial restructuring, from traditional industries to high-tech and service industries.
According to a conservative estimate, multinationals are expected to purchase 15 billion U.S. dollars of commodities in China this year, with some four billion likely to be done in the Yangtze River Delta.
Due to its geographic advantage and advanced high-tech and service industries, the Yangtze River Delta is expected to accountfor half of multinationals' purchases in China, economists say.
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2002)
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