A participant from Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University in Russia speaks with other attendees at a business exchange event for overseas talent held in Shanghai's free trade zone in Pudong New Area. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A swathe of deals were signed at a business match-making event for overseas entrepreneurs held at the Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) from Nov 2-5, with a total of 33 foreign startups securing investment over the course of the event.

The event was organized by the FTZ's innovation and entrepreneurship base for overseas talent, which was inaugurated in August 2015 and aims to become a hub for overseas startups.

The four-day event aims to match top overseas entrepreneurs who have innovative projects with investment institutions, and is also designed to attract more overseas talent to start their business in Shanghai FTZ.

More than 130 entrepreneurs from 14 countries and regions took part in the event, presenting their projects in front of the hundreds of investment institutions in attendance, including New Access Capital, Summitview Capital, Innovation Angel Funds, Wisdo Mont Asset Management, and Chenhui Venture Partners.

After the presentations were finished, the event released a list of the eight most promising startup projects to invest in, to provide investors with a framework of reference and to stimulate investment.

The entrepreneurs were also given tours of the FTZ's industrial parks and incubators during the event to give them a better understanding of the area's business environment and preferential policies.

The event is expected to provide a boost to Shanghai's goal of becoming a global center for science and technological innovation.