Two cities play crucial role in opening-up

He added that the bank would continue to build its business in China, including investment of more than 3 billion yuan from 2020 to 2025 and the issuance of a 1 billion yuan lending fund to help smaller companies hit hard by COVID-19-related challenges.

"We plan to hire nearly 100 staff members in private banking business by end of this year, expand the team size threefold in the next five years, and will extend our private banking footprint to more cities, including Hangzhou and Chengdu," Wang said.

Huang Tianlei, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank in the United States, said the surge in inbound foreign direct investment is evidence that China has continued to liberalize its investment environment for foreign companies.

"This suggests that many foreign corporates investing in China still find the Chinese domestic market a major attraction, despite calls by some Western governments for reshoring," he said.

He added that the Chinese government has continuously reduced the negative list restricting foreign investment. As a result, fewer sectors are now off limits to overseas companies.

"In financial services, for example, foreign companies are now allowed to take controlling shares in existing joint ventures, or to open new wholly foreign-owned firms, which has led to a steady increase in inbound investment in the sector in recent years," Huang said.

Institutional guarantee

Shanghai, a financial hub and China's largest port, has led the nation in trade and opening-up. The city also hosts the world's first import-themed expo, the China International Import Expo, which was planned by Xi in person.

The president traveled to Shanghai to address the opening ceremonies of the first and second expos in 2018 and 2019, unveiling measures that included lowering tariffs and easing market access for international companies.