XUHUI District has fully undertaken the spillover effects of the third China International Import Expo and created a high-quality investment environment for foreign enterprises.

The district’s utilization of foreign capital continued to maintain rapid growth. From January to October, Xuhui secured US$3.09 billion in contractual foreign investment and fetched actual foreign capital of US$740 million, an increase of 17 percent and 11 percent, respectively, from same period a year ago.

Up to now, Xuhui has landed 90 regional headquarters of multinational companies, including nine Asia-Pacific headquarters and 23 research and development centers.

Xuhui is an urban area where Chinese and Western cultures meet and modernity and tradition coexist, with profound cultural and historical heritage and rich education resources. Its premier location in downtown Shanghai and high-quality property management enable foreign companies to offer a convenient working place for their talent.

Foreign-funded enterprises in Xuhui, especially the headquarters of multinational companies, have been playing an increasingly important role in the district’s development. From January to September, foreign-funded enterprises, which account for 14 percent of the district’s enterprises, contributed 44 percent of the district’s tax revenue. Nearly one-third of the tax revenue comes from the headquarters of MNCs, making the headquarters economy a key engine for Xuhui’s economic growth.

Excellent performance of enterprises in Xuhui participating in the third China International Import Expo this year also proves that the district has a good business environment for enterprises to further grow and provide good products and services to consumers.

This year, a total of 31 companies based in Xuhui participated in the exhibition, which exceeded the scale of the previous two sessions. The quality of exhibitors also improved, with 14 of them being regional headquarters of MNCs.

Not only has the number of exhibitors in Xuhui increased, the number of purchases and the scale of transactions also outperformed the previous ones. As of November 8, the Xuhui trading group’s intentional transaction amount had exceeded US$670 million.

Companies such as Lego Toys (Shanghai) Co Ltd and ExxonMobil have greatly benefited from Xuhui’s friendly investment environment and achieved robust development.

LEGO Toys (Shanghai) Co Ltd, established in June 2014, is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise with its Chinese headquarters located in Xuhui.

LEGO China said the company has benefited a lot from the increasingly friendly business environment that Xuhui provides and it has achieved high-quality growth in recent years. During the pandemic, the district government provided great support to boost consumption and company business recovery.

The company launched Monkey Kid, its first Chinese IP inspired by Chinese culture and made for the Chinese market. This strategic product launch was listed as one of the highlights of Shanghai Double Five Shopping Festival thanks to great support from Xuhui District, and the newly launched Chinese IP products achieved very good sales in the China market.

“Xuhui District government fully supported LEGO China by providing useful guidance on pandemic prevention as well as resumption to work, facilitating foreign executives to come back to Shanghai, and more importantly, supporting post-COVID-19 business recovery,” according to LEGO.

During the pandemic, Xuhui District Director Fang Shizhong and various functional department heads visited LEGO’s office in person to better understand the company’s needs and difficulties, and offered very helpful support including various financial funding and supportive policy to help company minimize the impact on business operation.

An active CIIE participant since 2018, the LEGO Group brought its latest Chinese New Year products, as well as its unique LEGO Learning Through Play experience to this year’s event. With “Rebuild the World” as its main theme, the company showcased the unlimited creativity and innovation and sustainability commitment during the expo.

Meanwhile, ExxonMobil, one of the largest publicly traded international energy companies, said Xuhui has created high-quality business environment for enterprises over the years.

ExxonMobil set up its investment company, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co Ltd in Xuhui in 1996 which was certified as regional headquarters in China in 2002. Today, ExxonMobil’s business portfolio in China spans the full spectrum of the industry, from upstream to downstream, chemicals and technology center.

ExxonMobil Shanghai Technology Center officially opened in 2011 to develop and deliver innovative solutions to customers throughout China and Asia Pacific. In April 2018, the company completed the expansion of the center, which included a new, state-of-the-art research and development facility to support customer growth through collaboration and innovation.

ExxonMobil said it chose to set up regional headquarters in the district primarily because of its promising future and desirable business environment. The aforesaid has proved that the company’s decision to set up regional headquarters in Xuhui is a success.

In 2019, ExxonMobil, Tencent, Tuhu and a distribution holding company agreed to form a joint venture to establish an integrated “supply to business to consumers” car-care network. The joint venture will grow the Mobil-branded car-care network in China and leverage the strength of all partners to provide a high-quality, branded, and digitally enabled comprehensive car maintenance experience. The joint venture started its operation in Shanghai since the spring of 2020.

In terms Xuhui’s advantages in foreign investment environment, ExxonMobil mentioned Xuhui government’s strong desire in attracting and retaining quality foreign investment.

“The infrastructure and public facilities are impressive, drafting and implementation of laws and regulations are transparent with inputs from the foreign business community, and the government operates efficiently with a service-oriented mindset,” the company said. “All these have helped our business growth in Shanghai.”