Shanghai shows all it has to offer at NYC event

Shanghai was in the spotlight as the cooperation potential between the city and foreign investment enterprises was promoted at an event in New York City on Wednesday.

The "Open Innovation Win-Win Cooperation" Global Roadshow-Invest Shanghai series of events took place at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan.

The event highlighted to a global audience the recent accomplishments in Shanghai's industrial and economic sectors and sought to identify strategies for attracting greater attention from American businesses, with the aim of promoting mutual benefits.

Shanghai, the most populous city in China, is also the country's financial and trade center.

Huang Ping, Chinese consul general in New York, said he sincerely hoped that American businesses would seize the opportunities, enhance confidence in investment and development in China, and establish closer economic and trade relations with Shanghai and China.

"Shanghai has always been a model of internationalization and innovation, and this event provides precious opportunities for American companies to collaborate with this vibrant city," said EB Kelly, senior managing director at Tishman Speyer, a real estate investment company headquartered in Rockefeller Center. The company is a global investment partner with Shanghai.

There are approximately more than 5,000 American companies with business in Shanghai, including Tesla, General Motors, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Dow, Merck and Honeywell, according to an event news release.

Shanghai's consumer market has "fully recovered" after the pandemic, according to the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

"Major economic indicators, including fixed asset investment, private investment and industrial investment have all achieved double-digit growth in the first three quarters," the city government said in a statement released this month. "The consumer market has fully recovered, experiencing an over 10 percent increase in total retail sales of consumer goods. The cultural and tourism market has also rebounded, reaching the same level as in 2019."

Also introduced was the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, which has world-class financial centers, shipping hubs and a science city, as it strives to become a hotbed for global corporate development.

The Huangpu District, known as the heart, window and business card of Shanghai, also was featured.

The event organizers sent out invitations to global entrepreneurs and investors to gather in Huangpu and share opportunities for the development of the "industries of tomorrow".

Shanghai will continue to deepen high-level opening to the outside world, promote high-quality development, and welcome American businesses to increase their investment and presence in Shanghai for mutually beneficial cooperation, said Wang Weiren, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government.

The event was directed by the Office of the Leading Group for Investment Promotion in Shanghai and jointly organized by the Shanghai Investment Promotion Service Center, the Science and Technology and Economic Commission of Shanghai Pudong New Area, and the Investment Promotion Office of Shanghai Huangpu District, with the support of Tishman Speyer and the Bank of China.