More foreign workers pick Shanghai

But cities like Chengdu, Wuhan on rise as local officials issue new incentives

China has issued more than 193,000 work permits to foreigners in the past eight months, including nearly 43,000 in Shanghai, the country's largest number.

The four other top regions for permits were Guangdong province (33,000), Beijing (21,200) and Jiangsu (17,612) and Zhejiang (16,405) provinces.