Shanghai attracted 50.6 billion yuan (HK$47.7 billion) in domestic investment last year, equivalent to more than 130 million yuan every day, and officials say the city wants to draw even more. The figure was up 84.6 per cent from 2001, according to figures released yesterday by Shanghai's Industrial and Commercial Bureau. It follows efforts by the city to attract investment, especially private funds, from the neighbouring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. 'We are actively developing domestic economic and technical co-operation and raising the level of service to the whole nation,' the Shanghai Statistical Bureau said last week. A recent think-tank study by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences showed Ningbo and Wenzhou cities in Zhejiang were expected to invest at least 10 billion yuan in Shanghai this year. Many of the companies established by domestic investors are large in scale. Last year, outside investors set up 6,427 fully owned or controlled companies with registered capital of more than one million yuan each. This figure was up 38.5 per cent year on year. Their total registered capital was 54.6 billion yuan. About 57 of these companies had registered capital of more than 100 million yuan. Domestic investors mostly targeted the trade, restaurant and manufacturing industries last year, although the technology and service sectors started to gain favour, the industrial bureau said, without giving figures. The city's property sector also continued to draw vigorous investment as developers bet on a real estate boom. Investors set up 370 new property companies, doubling total registered capital from 2001. Analysts said the strong growth was supported by companies from nearby provinces who were confident in Shanghai's role as the 'dragon's head' of the Yangtze River Delta. 'This is really fundamental investment. It's hard to tell where it's coming from, but people are confident about Shanghai's role in the development of the Yangtze River Delta,' said an analyst at a foreign securities firm. Meng Fanchen, vice-president and general manager of US consulting firm AT Kearney in Shanghai, said: 'I'm not surprised that domestic enterprises want to come to Shanghai. 'Domestic companies need a lot of talent, and Shanghai has a lot of professional talent that other cities in China don't have. There are many Hong Kong and Taiwanese executives here and that makes Shanghai very attractive for Chinese firms. These professionals are highly sought after by domestic firms. 'Shanghai offers the best investment environment in China.' He added that due to central government support, Shanghai had better infrastructure than Beijing and boasted higher living standards. 'Shanghai is also steadily becoming the services centre of China . . . Shanghai's service expertise is what attracts many domestic companies and their investments,' he said. Some top leaders have expressed concern over speculation in the property market. But Shanghai officials say rising incomes and foreign and domestic companies flocking to the city following the nation's entry to the World Trade Organisation are spurring demand. Beijing has put the most investment into Shanghai, accounting for 23 billion yuan in the registered capital of larger companies, or 42 per cent of the total. Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces followed, in second and third place.
