Despite the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Shanghai experienced a sharp increase in the utilization of foreign investment this year.
Statistics released by the local foreign investment department show that, between January and May, the city lured US$5.16 billion in contractual investment, with some US$2.99 billion already in place, both up 40 percent over the same period last year.
A total of 2,022 foreign-financed projects were approved in the five months, up 70 percent year-on-year, including 173 each involving an investment of more than US$10 million.
Nearly one-third of the total contractual investment came from companies which had already financed projects in Shanghai and were satisfied with the returns.
In January-April alone, nearly 30 joint ventures made an additional investment of more than US$10 million each.
Deputy General Manager Liu Youhai with the Shanghai Advanced Semiconductor Company said that his company has kept an annual rate of returns on investment above 20 percent for years.
To date, over 29,700 enterprises from 170 countries and regions have established businesses in Shanghai. In 2002, they registered a combined sales revenue of 588.75 billion yuan (US$71 billion) and generated 28.4 billion yuan in profits (US$3.43 billion), up 23.8 percent and 20 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.
(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2003)
