Shanghai Welcomes More Partnerships With Multinationals

Shanghai warmly welcomes more partnerships with multinational companies from around the world in all kinds of formats, top Shanghai officials said during the ongoing 9trh China International Import Expo.

"Shanghai stands at the forefront of China's opening-up process and has been undertaking a lot of strategic missions of the country. We expect to team up with more foreign partners in diversified ways to make the city a better place," Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining told the 2026 Shanghai City Investment Promotion Conference yesterday.

Launched in 2019 and held annually alongside the CIIE, this year's conference was held under the theme "Embrace the CIIE, Share the Future" to present Shanghai's unique features highlighted by a very open market, vibrant innovation and inclusive ecosystem in all dimensions.

Shanghai Mayor Zhu Zhongming said at the conference that the city will prioritize sectors including integrated circuits, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, new-generation electronic information, intelligent new-energy vehicles, high-end equipment and modern services as key drivers of the city's growth in the next stage, hoping foreign partners can join and share the opportunities.

Meanwhile, he warmly welcomed foreign firms to expand and upgrade businesses and services in the city, which is known as the best choice for product debut and for testing market responses.

"Shanghai will make continued efforts in the construction of a global center for the economy, finance, trade, shipping and sci-tech innovation, and we sincerely welcome foreign partnerships in this process," Zhu said.

The city has been recognized by many as the first and best investment choice in China.

Kwon Jong-bae, chairman and CEO of Hyundai Elevator (China) Co Ltd, told the conference that Shanghai boasts world-class supply chains and industrial infrastructure, making it a key global production base for the South Korean firm.

Shiseido China and Travel Retail CEO Toshinobu Umetsu said Shanghai has a large size of sophisticated consumers who, at the same time, are more than willing to try out new things, along with strong government support for companies to innovate on both products and services. The city hosts both the regional headquarters and the research and development center of the Japanese cosmetics giant.

Joerg Buchheim, CEO of German automotive supplier Webasto, said Shanghai has a unique advantage in that it plays a leading role in the vibrant Yangtze River Delta region and beyond, which gathers talented professionals and brings quality teams, partners and clients together.

This is illustrated by the example of German medical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, which concluded an out-licensing deal with China Biopharmaceutical Ltd at the CIIE covering six innovative drugs with a maximum value of US$7 billion to accelerate the global rollout of next-generation innovative oncology therapies.

For US-based logistics firm FedEx, Shanghai has always been a key link in its global network and a spotlight place for innovation. Poh-Yian Koh, president of FedEX China, said the company has launched its first solar power project at its East China facility and has deployed automation technologies as a start to upgrade its sustainable operations.

Siemens Energy, which specializes in sustainable development, has made the CIIE in Shanghai a fixed venue for the debut of many of its new technologies. This year, the German giant launched a smart and flexible system covering the whole production chain from power generation, transfer, storage and application, which can help slash carbon emissions significantly, both on land and at sea.

Meanwhile, foreign partnerships in Shanghai are not limited to businesses and services. It can involve more sectors and contribute to broader social development – as city officials suggested.

One example is Totole Food, one of China's leading condiment and seasoning brands under Swiss food giant Nestle, which launched a project to encourage disabled children to paint for the product packaging in partnership with the Shanghai Children's Foundation.

Also, German sustainability-related consultancy firm TUV Rheinland has cooperated with Jing'an District in Shanghai to encourage "zero-waste retail store" that is an advanced practice around the world.

"Shanghai has been an ideal place for such practices as it has a large base for new experiments that represent the future," said Fang Hua, vice president of tailored services at TUV Rheinland (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

Shanghai has seen a steady growth in foreign partnerships with about 6,000 new foreign-invested companies being established in the city to add into the existing nearly 80,000 in total. It is also home to 1,124 headquarters of multinational companies and 680 foreign R&D centers with cumulative foreign direct investment amounting to over US$390 billion.