Suhe Bay attracts multinational regional headquarters to Shanghai

Credit: Ti Gong

Shanghai's Suhe Bay has emerged as a new magnet attracting regional headquarters of multinational companies, district government officials said.

The Suhe Bay Functional Zone, in Jing'an District, is a 4.2-square-kilometer waterfront area along Suzhou Creek.

The area was once the cradle of finance and commerce in Shanghai in the 1920s and '30s, but later declined due to industrial development urban expansion. Urban renewals in recent years have helped revived the area's former glory.

Well on its way to become an emerging investment hub, the area is now home to 23 regional headquarters of multinational companies, such as consultancy Roland Berger, advertising leader WPP, consumer group Kao, fashion brand Coach, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, and private securities investment fund manager Sumitomo Mitsui DS Private Fund Management.

They specialize in different sectors, which helps to promote the area's development in trade services, finance services, technology services, and more, as well as to create a vibrant business ecosystem.

Statistics show that the area generated tax revenues of 11.62 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) in 2023, up 14.71 percent on a year earlier. In the first three months of this year, that figure hit 3.498 billion yuan.

Later this month, in the second year of "Our Water," a river-inspired initiative to promote exchanges and cooperation between Shanghai and other world metropolises, Suhe Bay will be promoted in Paris, and potential cooperation between La Défense near the Seine will be sought.