More than 1,000 multinational companies had set up offices in Shanghai by the end of 2012.

Figures from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce show that 83 percent of these multinationals are US, European and Japanese companies and 82 of them are Fortune 500 firms.

Among the multinationals, 265 are investment companies. A total of 403 multinationals have set their regional headquarters in Shanghai, 95 percent of them serving as both China headquarters and Asia-Pacific headquarters.

The city saw 25 investment companies set home there last year.

BP, Hewlett-Packard and the Kubota Corporation have all moved their regional headquarters to Shanghai.

As economies in Europe and the United States stagnate, Shanghai attracted more than $22.3 billion in foreign investment in 2012, up 11.1 percent year-on-year.