According to statistics from the Shanghai Statistics Bureau, 529 foreign-funded projects were approved with a combined contractual investment of about US$2.5 billion, an increase of 45.3 per cent over the same period last year.

The investment amount accounted for 57.25 per cent of the city's total contractual foreign funds approved by the Shanghai Foreign Investment Commission between January and April.

"This shows foreign investors are showing their reinforced confidence in suburban investment," said Xiong Ling, an official from the bureau's Rural Economic Survey Team.

Many of the new projects went to the city's five new manufacturing industrial bases, including microelectronics in Pudong, automobiles in Jiading District, petrochemicals in Jinshan District, fine steel in Baoshan District and equipment manufacturing in Nanhui District.

Insiders said the city government is going all out to advance development by attracting more foreign funds.

Minhang and Jiading districts make up more than half of suburban investment, Xiong said.

Jinshan, an outlying district, is also taking measures to attract more funds by signing an agreement with the State Development Bank Shanghai Branch, the Agricultural Bank of China Shanghai Branch and Shanghai Bank.

Under the agreement, the district will finance long-term and low-interest loans of 8 billion yuan (US$967 million) from the aforementioned banks.

"By using the loans, we can step up Jinshan's development which had been held up by the financial shortages," said Hu Wei, an office official of the District Government.

Hu explained that with the back-up of the banks, Jinshan is able to develop and reserve available land for the launching of new foreign-funded projects.

Between January and March, overseas investors put funds of 2.24 billion yuan (US$271 million) into their suburban projects, a growth of 95.6 per cent over the same period last year.

(China Daily May 21, 2003)