Shanghai---Magnet---WoW

The City's Service Industry

The city's service industry now represents a growing part of
Shanghai's economy. Finance and insurance, commerce, real estate,
tourism and information represent the key sectors for development. The
city's goal is to turn Shanghai into a regional economic and trade
centre. The Shanghai Stock Exchange and various specialized markets
have developed rapidly in Shanghai, which also has the country's
largest foreign exchange trading centre as well as many foreign banks
and insurance companies.

Shanghai has developed trade relations with more than 30,000 companies
in about 170 countries and regions. The value of Shanghai's imports
and exports surpassed US$58.7 billion in 1997, accounting for about
one-sixth of the national total.

The city has attracted more than 20,630 direct foreign investment
projects, nearly 300 of which were invested by big-name
multinationals. More than half of the world's top 100 industrial
companies have invested in Shanghai. Shanghai is also developing
modern farming in its suburban areas. The government-supported "Basket
Project " has been successful in enriching food supplies in the city.
Education & Culture
Shanghai has 39 institutions of higher learning, 812 secondary schools
and 1,533 elementary schools, as well as special schools for
handicapped children. The city also has a dozen schools for foreign
children. Shanghai is a big melting pot with a population largely made
up of migrants. This has led to the development of the city's
colourful culture. Shanghai boasts a large number of celebrated
artists and performing troupes. It has two radio stations, four
television stations, four film studios and several film making sites.

Many world-class musicians and artists have come to perform in
Shanghai. The city regularly hosts international TV, film and art
festivals. These events have drawn many domestic and overseas
participants and brought an abundance of high-quality programmes to
Shanghai audiences.

Other popular festivals include the Huangpu Tourism Festival, the
Xuhui Osmanthus Festival, the Nanhui Peach Blossom Festival, the
Fengxian Kite-flying Festival and the Zhabei Tea Festival. Outdoor
concerts and performances at the Bund and other public areas have also
composed unique scenes in the city's cultural life. Fuzhou Road, known
as Shanghai's "Cultural Street",has more than 100 bookstores and
publishing firms. The city's 36 publishing companies released 9,928
different book titles in 1997. Meanwhile, 87 newspapers and 587
journals are published locally.

An average of about 2,000 scientific discoveries and technological
breakthroughs are made in Shanghai each year, nearly one-third of
which are considered to be at an advanced world level. Shanghai boasts
many landmark cultural facilities, such as the waterfront Oriental
Pearl TV Tower in Pudong, Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai Museum
in People's Square, and the new Shanghai Library on Huaihai Road M.
A. Utilization of Foreign Funds
By the end of 1997, Shanghai had signed contracts on 20,630
overseas-funded projects with contracted investment totalling 67.113
billion US dollars, of which 33.799 billion US dollars had already
been utilized. During the 1991-97 period, the figures were 19,176
projects, 40.856 billion US dollars and 29.421 billion US dollars,
respectively. These figures accounted for 93%, 60.9% and 87%,
respectively, of the total recorded since the adoption of reform and
openness policies 18 years ago. As of 1997, Shanghai attracted
investments from 80 countries and regions around the world.

B. Investment Structure Shanghai has been continuously expanding the
scale of absorbing overseas investment and improving the investment
quality. Earlier, overseas capital was invested mainly into industrial
projects. Today, however, it is spreading into commercial, financial,
tourism, real estate and many other sectors of the service industry.

C. Overseas-Funded Ventures
By the end of 1997, 17,494 overseas-funded venture were operating in
Shanghai and most of them reported good economic returns thanks to
sound management and development of the product market. in 1997, these
enterprises achieved total sales of 283.216 billion yuan, pre-tax
profits of 13.429 billion yuan and export earnings of 5.2 billion US
dollars. They represent an increase of 36.7%, 10.4% and 29.8% over
1996, respectively.

D. Foreign Trade
Following the policy of opening wider to the outside world, Shanghai
has enhanced its economic relations with other parts of the world.
During the 1978-1997 period, the city's accumulative foreign trade
volume totalled 179.367 billion US dollars. From 1991 to 1997, the
figure was 112.435 billion US dollars.

Total Volume of Foreign Trade
Year Import
(US 100 million) Export
(US 100 million) Year Import
(US 100 million) Export
(US 100 million)
1978 1.33 28.93 1988 26.40 46.50
1979 2.03 36.75 1989 28.16 50.32
1980 2.40 42.66 1990 21.10 53.17
1981 3.43 38.07 1991 23.04 57.40
1982 2.88 36.05 1992 32.02 65.55
1983 4.92 36.48 1993 53.50 73.82
1984 8.13 35.87 1994 67.42 90.77
1985 18.13 33.61 1995 74.79 115.77
1986 16.22 35.82 1996 90.25 132.38
1987 18.36 41.60 1997 100.40 147.24

E. Port Trade
Shanghai has further enhanced its functions as a port city. During the
1978-1997 period, imports and exports passing through the Shanghai
Customs totalled 374.696 billion US dollars. The figure for the
1991-97 period stood at 272.414 billion US dollars.

F. Foreign-Invested Financial Institutions
The city's financial industry has been opening increasingly wider for
overseas investors. By the end of 1997, there were 51 foreign-funded
financial institutions and 162 financial representative offices in the
city from more than 20 countries and regions around the world.
Shanghai leads the country in the number and variety of foreign
financial institutions situated in the city. Today, nine foreign
banks, including Citibank of the United States, Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corp, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Industrial Bank of Japan,
have moved to Pudong and are authorized to handle Chinese currency
business. This is another lead that has been taken by the city in
opening the country's financial industry to overseas investors.

G. International Tourism & Star-Rated Hotels
Shanghai's international tourism industry is thriving. The city has
opened more than 30 tourism routes and boasts more than 400 scenic
spots. In 1997, the city received more than 1.6535 million overseas
tourists or 3,748 tourists on an average day. They came from 169
countries and regions around the world. Japanese tourists, accounting
for 36.3% of the total, formed the largest overseas tourists' group to
visit the city. They were followed by American and German travelers.

By the end of 1997, there were 115 star-rated hotels in the city,
including seven five-star hotels. They were Shanghai Hilton, Garden
Hotel Shanghai, Hua Ting, Jin Jiang Tower, J.C. Mandarin, Portman
Ritz-Carlton and Westin Tai Ping Yang Shanghai.

H. Sister Cities
Shanghai has markedly expanded its exchanges with other parts of the
world. By the end of 1997, the city had established sister-city
relationships with 33 cities in 31 countries (provinces, states and
districts) around the world. Eight cities and districts had
established a long-term friendly exchange programme with Shanghai.
Thirty-two countries had set up consulates general in the city. They
included the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and
Russia.

I. Foreign News Organizations in Shanghai
During the past few years, a growing number of overseas news
organizations have won approval to set up resident offices in the
city. Many world-renowned media, such as the Reuters, DPA, AFP, AP,
JIJI, Asahi Shimbun, Keizai Shimbun, New York Times, L.A. Times,
Financial Times and Newsweek, have reporters stationed in the city. By
the end of 1997, 36 overseas news organizations had set up their
offices in Shanghai.