Shanghai has absorbed increasing inflow of foreign funds against the backdrop of a slowdown in foreign investment in the whole country in the first three quarters, according to local commerce authorities.

Figures from the Shanghai Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee show that Shanghai lured 10.828 billion US dollars of contractual foreign investment in the first three quarters, up 1.08 percent year one year. The city used 5.73 billion US dollars of foreign funds in the three-quarter period, up 1.5 percent year on year.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, China used 42.589 billion US dollars of foreign funds in the first three quarters, down by 1.52 percent year on year.

The increase in foreign investment is mainly ascribed to the good performance of foreign-financed businesses. Foreign-financed businesses in Shanghai recorded a post-tax profit of 59.417 billion yuan (7.42 billion US dollars), up 27.9 percent year on year.

Currently, Shanghai has over 20,000 foreign-funded enterprises in operation.

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