Comparing the China market to a continuously expanding supersized cake, with Shanghai as the most delicious slice, Lu Shan, vice-mayor of Shanghai, said during the city's annual commerce and investment briefing that multinational corporations are welcome to set up regional headquarters in the city to establish a presence in China and serve the world, as Shanghai rallies to provide a platform to strengthen their global competitiveness.

"As we know, many multinational companies have been thinking about their positioning in China. I want to assure everyone here: please strengthen your confidence and determination to be in China and serve the world," Lu said, during the city's annual briefing on commerce and investment on Wednesday.

"Considering its resilience and strengths in supply chains and the manufacturing ecosystem, the city should not only serve as a regional sales headquarters, but also as a regional headquarters for supply chains and resource allocation, as well as an important regional center supporting multinational groups' global layout," Lu said.

The briefing was attended by more than 400 guests from 38 countries' consulates, 21 foreign trade delegations, and more than 200 foreign-funded enterprises.

Shanghai's business sector achieved stable development in 2025, making positive contributions to the city's economic and social development, said Shen Weihua, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

The development is characterized by deeper progress in building an international consumption center city, accelerated efforts to develop Shanghai into an international trade center, a steadily optimized foreign investment structure, and steady progress in high-level opening-up, Shen explained.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce's key tasks for 2026 include boosting consumption with greater efforts, stabilizing foreign trade and investment, and deepening the construction of the international trade center, he added.

According to Lu, Shanghai achieved steady and healthy growth in both economic and social development in 2025, thanks to the contributions of all parties.

"The China market is a continuously growing super-sized cake, and Shanghai should become the most delicious part of it," Lu noted.

According to Lu, Shanghai's confidence is underpinned by the city's targets which include maintaining its GDP grow at about 5 percent during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period, building itself into a socialist modern international metropolis with global influence by 2035, and doubling its per capita GDP from that of 2020.

He said the venue of this year's annual briefing, the Shanghai Eastern Hub International Business Cooperation Zone, serves as a benchmark for opening-up and improved business environment.

According to Lu, the city rolled out its 9.0 version of the business environment optimization action plan this year and has hosted the China International Import Expo (CIIE) for eight consecutive years, demonstrating that high-level opening-up is a systematic and progressive process.