Shanghai, the business and financial center of China, is determined to build an effective purchasing platform to facilitate multinational corporations.
By the end of 2003, foreign companies' purchases from the Yangtze River Delta via Shanghai will be expected to reach US$8 billion annually.
That figure is expected to increase to US$18 billion by 2005 and further to US$50 billion by 2010, almost equal to the city's gross domestic product for the year 2000.
Economists believe that following China's entry into the World Trade Organization, it is a logical step for Shanghai to become an international purchasing center, and this is important for the city's industrial restructuring, from traditional industries to high-tech and service industries.
(People's Daily February 25, 2002)
