Foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai scored 107.556 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion) in profits in the first 11 months of 2007, a drastic increase of 37.9 percent as against the same period of the previous year, according to the local authority.

During the period, the companies reported 1.73 trillion yuan (US$237 billion) in sales revenue, up 22.4 percent compared with the corresponding period of 2006, according to the statistics released by Shanghai Foreign Relations and Trade Commission.

Foreign-funded firms accounted for two thirds of the city's total volume of imports and exports that hit US$283 billion, the commission said.

The companies employed more than 1.8 million people as of November last year, about 25 percent of the city's total working population.

Foreign-invested companies have enjoyed a sound business development and contributed to the economic growth of this eastern metropolis, according to the commission.

The city had nearly US$14.9 billion of contractual investment last year on business expansion. The accumulated actual foreign investment hit US$74.7 billion by the end of 2007 from some 130 countries and regions, covering more than 48,000 projects.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)