Multinationals bullish on Jing'an district

In July, Italy's fourth-largest fashion company – OTB Group – opened four of its brands' largest flagship stores at the newly opened JC Plaza, located in the Jing'an district of Shanghai city in East China.

OTB Group's increased investment in Shanghai is said to show the confidence of foreign investors in China and in Shanghai's economic development prospects, while also epitomizing Jing'an district's open economy.

In the first seven months of this year, the total foreign tax collected in Jing'an reached 30.38 billion yuan ($4.47 billion), accounting for 58 percent of the district's total tax paid, and the total foreign tax and its proportion of the total continued to lead the central urban area of Shanghai.

The service trade is a pillar industry in Jing'an district. In the first half of 2022, the first stores of 42 brands opened there. Many of those were foreign brands, including global diamond mining and retail operator De Beers Group, which opened its first high-end jewelry salon in China. Elsewhere, German luxury sportswear brand Bogner opened the first store in Shanghai and high-end Chinese luxury brand Shanghai Tang opened its first new concept store in China.

In order to attract more foreign investment, the Jing'an district has launched a raft of supportive policies such as a global service provider plan, a headquarters economy promotions plan and an Asia Pacific operations headquarters support plan.

From January to July, Jing'an introduced eight regional headquarters of multinational companies, raising the total number to 108. They cover high-end consumption, professional services, data intelligence, life and health and other fields.