A group signing ceremony for foreign investment projects is held in Shanghai on Feb 11. [Photo/WeChat account: scofcom]

Shanghai city in East China held this year's first group contract signing ceremony for foreign investment projects on Feb 11, when 53 projects with a total investment of $5.44 billion were signed up.

Among the projects, 37 were said to highly correspond to Shanghai's so-called 3+6 industrial system, involving an investment of $3.52 billion.

In the development blueprint for Shanghai's advanced manufacturing industry in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the city put forward an 3+6 industry development configuration. This is led by integrated circuits, biomedicines and artificial intelligence – and is supported by the six key industries of electronics information, life and health, automobiles, high-end equipment, advanced materials and fashion consumer goods.

Some 19 projects will be based in key functional areas and the five new towns – Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and the Nanhui region in the Pudong New Area – with a total investment of $1.7 billion.

In 2021, Shanghai's actually used foreign investment reached $22.55 billion, up 11.5 percent year-on-year, hitting a new high. In addition, 60 regional headquarters of multinational companies and 25 foreign research and development centers were established in the city last year, taking the total numbers to 831 and 506, respectively.

By the end of last year, the number of countries and regions investing in Shanghai had increased to 190.