Measures are being considered to encourage multi-national companies to establish their headquarters in Pudong, in the hope of soaking up a surplus of office space, sources say.
While details are unavailable, it is understood the authorities are looking at measures, which may be introduced next month, as part of the government's strategy to help absorb the area's oversupply of offices.
Pudong has already outlined plans to attract foreign banks and Sino-foreign trade and insurance companies to open offices there.
Officials on Friday emphasised that Pudong's Lujiazui Finance and Trade Development Zone offered more favourable conditions for trade, finance and commerce than Beijing, where most foreign multinationals have their headquarters.
'This is because Lujiazui's development relies on Shanghai, which is the biggest commercial and trading centre,' one source said.
He said Pudong was a logistically sensible location for the companies because many of their largest projects were in the area. Such companies with hefty investments in the area include General Motors Corp, Sony and Hewlett-Packard.
Officials said there were more than 50 large projects in Pudong in which multinationals had interests in.