(Yicai Global) Jan. 11 -- Shanghai’s actual use of foreign capital in the five years from 2017 to 2022 jumped 15.8 percent from the previous five years to USD103 billion, according to the latest data released at the opening session of the 16th Shanghai People’s Congress today.

Some 266 regional headquarters of multinational firms and 105 foreign-funded research and development centers were set up in Shanghai since 2017, demonstrating overseas investors’ strong confidence in the city, Mayor Gong Zheng said in the government work report delivered at the congress.

Last year, the metropolis added 60 regional headquarters of multinational companies and 25 foreign R&D centers, bringing the total to 891 and 531 respectively, according to data from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

As a new round of supportive policies come into play, the city expects the number of multinationals’ regional headquarters to expand to 1,200 over the next five years, Gong said.

Since 2017, Shanghai has made great progress in facilitating cross-border trade, the report said. Customs’ clearance times have halved and the value of foreign trade jumped 28.1 percent from the five years before to CNY18.6 trillion (USD2.7 trillion).

The China International Import Expo, which serves as a platform to promote a high level of opening-up and as a shared international public product, has been held in Shanghai for five straight years with over USD345.8 billion of tentative trade deals inked.

More than 300 businesses have signed up to exhibit at the expo this year, and the exhibition area will exceed 120,000 square meters, Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the CIIE bureau, said at the signing ceremony of the sixth CIIE convened on Jan. 9.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor