Foreigners encouraged to invest in more industries

"China's signing of the RCEP and the targeting of CPTPP offer great opportunities for Shanghai to further open up the service sector," Hua said at a news briefing. "We will make the most of such international rules on investment and trade to advance the service sector."

Specifically, the city will prioritize opening-up in seven financial fields, such as banking, securities and insurance. It also will advance opening-up in an orderly fashion in six areas, including telecom, internet and healthcare, Hua said.

He said the city will conduct trials using the large number of pilot zones, such as the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang Special Area, the Shanghai Hongqiao Central Business District and the demonstration zone of the Yangtze River Delta.

"China is the single largest market for Covestro and we regard Shanghai as our home," said Cheng Jie, chief financial officer of German chemical company Covestro in China. The company upgraded its regional headquarters in the Shanghai FTZ to add new functions like R&D and investment this year.

"That's especially true against the backdrop of COVID-19, during which China has become the first market to recover and the key contributor to our group business," she said. "Our success is not possible without the great support from the Shanghai municipal government in opening-up and the improving business environment."

China's use of foreign capital rose by 5.5 percent year-on-year to 98.7 billion yuan ($15.09 billion) in November, the eighth consecutive month of positive FDI growth, the Ministry of Commerce said.

"Under the wave of digitization and new infrastructure, Honeywell aims to better meet the needs of China's industries and consumers," said Zhang Yufeng, president of Honeywell China. "We will seize market opportunities, strengthen local innovation and cooperation, and contribute to the high-quality development of China's economy while sharing development dividends."