Business Overview
As an economic and business center of China, Shanghai is attracting investment from large number of overseas companies. Its open policy has made it a magnet for foreign investors. Places like ‘The Bund’ and ‘Pudong’, which has evolved rapidly in past few years in Shanghai, has increased the city’s role in international finance, banking and trade too.

Shanghai has a strong base in manufacturing and technology. With innumerable technology parks and industrial districts, the city is the leading industrial base of China. Steel, telecommunications, automobiles, power production equipment, petrochemicals and electric appliances are six pillar industries of Shanghai, contributing nearly 50 per cent to GDP. Further the foreign influence has made the city a consumer heaven.

The service industry now also represents a growing part of the city’s economy. Finance, insurance, real estate, tourism and information represents the key sectors of development. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is one of the largest foreign exchange trading center of the country and various specialized markets like foreign banks and insurance companies have also developed rapidly in Shanghai.

Shanghai, as the Host City of World Expo 2010, offers comprehensive international business opportunities. While hosting some well known fairs like CeBIT and CeMAT, its Water & Membrane China (Shanghai) has recently become the most influential trade show on water, wastewater & membrane in the world.

Shanghai is one of the world's busiest seaports. It ranked first of the world's busiest ports in terms of cargo throughput in 2005. In terms of container traffic also, it is third busiest port in the world.

Being internationally diverse and commercially potential therefore makes Shanghai a foremost gateway for the world into the rich, historic and complex society of today's China.

Starting a Business
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The challenges of launching a business are shown below. Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.
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Indicator Shanghai East Asia & Pacific OECD
Procedures (number)
14 7.8 5.6
Time (days)
35 39.0 13.8
Cost (% of income per capita)
4.8 27.1 5.3
Paid-in Min. Capital (% of income per capita)
200.0 50.6 15.3
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain notice of Pre-Approval of the Company Name  1 day  RMB 80.00
2 Open a preliminary bank account, deposit funds in the account and obtain the certificate of deposit  1 day  No cost
3 Obtain capital verification report from an auditing firm  5 days  RMB 500.00
4 Obtain registration certification "Business License of Enterprise Legal Person" from local Administration of Industry and Commerce (AIC)  5 days  RMB 429.02 (Registration fee: 0.08% of registered capital; copy of Business License: RMB10)
5 Obtain approval from the police department to make a company seal  1 day  No cost
6 Make a company seal  1 day  RMB 300.00
7 Obtain the Organization Code Certificate issued by the Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau  2 days  RMB 148.00
8 Register with the local statistics bureau  1 day  RMB 50.00
9 Register for national and local tax  7 days  RMB 100.00
10 Open a bank account for the company and transfer registered capital to the account  5 days  No cost
11 Apply for the authorization to print or purchase financial invoices  3 days  No cost
12 Purchase invoices  1 day  RMB 17.50 (RMB0.7-1.1 per set of invoices)
* 13 File for recruitment registration with local Career Service Center  1 day (simultaneous with procedure 11)  No cost
* 14 Register with Social Welfare Insurance Center  1 day (simultaneous with procedure 11)  No cost