Shanghai will strengthen communication with foreign-funded enterprises to help them address practical problems during the resumption of work in bid to stabilize foreign investment in the city, local officials told a press conference on Sunday.

“The positive fundamentals of foreign investment in Shanghai have not changed despite the short-lived impact caused by the epidemic and the changes in the international situation,” Gu Jun, an official from the Shanghai business commission said on Sunday.

Shanghai has outlined a range of measures to stabilize foreign investment and optimize the business environment, among 50 measures aimed at helping the city accelerate its return to normality.

Among the measures, Shanghai will coordinate more conferences between foreign enterprises executives and government officials to listen to suggestions and problems of foreign enterprises and work out a  problem-solving mechanism to help foreign enterprises solve their practical problems.

Efforts will also be made to facilitate cargo throughput at Customs, support online certificate processing and establish green channels for key enterprise. The city will also make it more convenient for foreign employees, global executives and technical personnel to enter the city to carry out business activities.

The measures also stressed the creation of a one-on-one mechanism for key enterprises to solve their logistical problems linked to the resumption of work, facilitate the signing of contracts and promote the implementation of foreign-invested projects.

In term of financial support, the city will advance the application of special funds aimed at encouraging the development of regional headquarters of multinational corporations in Shanghai and allocate the funds by end of September.

Shanghai has kicked off work resumption for leading foreign trade and foreign invested businesses over three phases.

Now, 91 percent of the142 enterprises which made up the first phase, 73 percent in the second round and 50 percent from the third grouping have achieved work resumption, Gu said.

Actualized foreign direct investment flows into Shanghai jumped 1.6 percent on a yearly basis from January to April, reaching $7.89 billion, despite challenges posed by COVID-19, according to official data on May 24. 

Among them foreign investment in the tertiary industry saw an increase of 4.7 percent from a year ago, accounting for 97.2 percent of the total foreign investment.

Nationwide, China’s actual use of foreign capital recorded a significant jump of 26.1 percent on a yearly basis from January to April, reaching $74.47 billion.