国内英语新闻:Shanghai's further opening-up attracts more foreign investors

SHANGHAI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- At the forefront of China's opening-up drive, Shanghai is attracting more foreign investors with a spate of new measures in multiple sectors.

On July 10, authorities in Shanghai introduced a total of 100 new measures covering five areas, including the banking and securities sectors, in a bid to further expand the city's opening-up.

In less than a month, 74 of the 100 measures have gone into effect. The further opening-up is not only a choice of Shanghai, but also a showcase of China's determination to deepen reforms to embrace the world.

Since the central bank announced further opening up of the country's financial sector, Shanghai has rolled out 32 related measures to benefit many overseas banks, insurers and asset management firms.

ICBC-AXA Life, partly owned by French insurance giant AXA, has won regulatory approval to set up an asset management firm in Shanghai. Willis Insurance Brokers Co. and JLT Insurance Brokers. Co. have became the first two to benefit from business scope expansion.

A survey of Renminbi qualified foreign institutional investors by Standard Chartered Bank showed that investors are thinking when to make investment on the onshore market, rather than whether or not.

Many countries and regions along the Belt and Road are also issuing bonds on China's inter-bank bond market and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

After increasing investment quotas for the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program, local authorities are making preparations to launch the Shanghai-London stock connect program within the year.

Shanghai's opening-up is also expanding into advanced manufacturing, and shipping and telecommunications sectors.

Also on July 10, U.S. carmaker Tesla Inc. announced that it will set up its first overseas plant in Shanghai, with a planned annual capacity of 500,000 electric cars.

With the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project, Tesla became the first to benefit from a new policy that allows foreign carmakers to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries in China.

Other foreign carmakers are also revving up expansion to get a larger share of the world's largest auto market.

In the aviation sector, Chinese and Russian engineers are working on the development of the CR929 wide-body passenger aircraft, a 280-seat jet with a range of 12,000 kilometers, in Shanghai.

Shanghai is scheduled to host the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), which signals a new round of China's high-level opening-up, from Nov. 5 to 10. Over 130 countries and regions and more than 2,800 companies have confirmed participation in the CIIE.

The country's financial and business center is also improving its business environment, including better protection of intellectual property rights and more efficient government services.

The efforts have yielded results. In the first half of the year, Shanghai's contractual foreign investment hit 21.5 billion U.S. dollars, up 18 percent year on year. Meanwhile, further 17 multinational firms set up regional headquarters in Shanghai, raising the total number to 642.

In addition, foreign-funded businesses in Shanghai saw revenues and profits up 10.3 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively, in the January-May period.