Shanghai has become home to 580 regional headquarters of multinationals by the end of 2016 and intends to attract more headquarters in the future. [Photo/WeChat account: Lujiazuijrc]

Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce released new regulations on Feb 14 to encourage multinational enterprises to set up regional headquarters in the city.

The regulations include cancelling the restrictions on the type and scope of businesses that can be established. They also intend to offer increasingly favorable policies in terms of financial support, capital management, customs clearance, and talent attraction.

The city is also keen to encourage authorities at a district level to promote their own specific advantages in order to create better business environments for regional headquarters.

Pudong New Area, which boasted 265 regional headquarters at the end of 2016, accounts for 42 percent of the city's total and is certainly considered a core area of Shanghai's headquarters economy.

The area aims to actively implement the city's latest decision and says that it will create and roll out policies to attract regional headquarters of multinational companies.

The new regulations are considered a continuation and an upgrade of policies launched in 2011. It is also in line with the country's call to further open up and attract foreign investment.

The provisions are made based on the positive results generated by the city's decision to lure regional headquarters of multinational companies. In 2016, 12 regional headquarters ranked among the top 100 taxpayers in Shanghai's tertiary industry.

Shanghai became home to 580 regional headquarters of multinationals by the end of 2016. Its new move is expected to bring in more regional headquarters, which will contribute to the city's goal of becoming a scientific and technological innovation center.

The move will also create a more legal, international, and convenient investment and trade environment. These factors will help to increase the city's influence in the global economy.