Number of foreign-invested companies in Shanghai grows

The number of new foreign-invested companies in Shanghai grew 63.3 percent year-on-year to 2,541 during the first half of this year, the municipal bureau of statistics announced on Monday.

During the same period, the actual utilization of foreign capital in the city exceeded $12.77 billion, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier. The tertiary sector accounted for the majority $12.29 billion, up 6.1 percent year-on-year, according to the statistics bureau.

Shanghai's information technology industry used $3.31 billion in foreign capital, the largest among all industries, in the first six months of the year, up 17.6 percent year-on-year. This was followed by the scientific research and technology services industry, which utilized nearly $2.64 billion during the same period, an annual increase of 2 percent.

Foreign capital used by the leasing and business services industry contracted 21.5 percent from a year earlier to $2.4 billion.

In early April, the municipal government of Shanghai rolled out 20 measures, including providing preferential tax policies and subsidies, to further facilitate the establishment of foreign-invested firms and the more effective use of foreign capital.