From the "one-stop" service halls along the Huangpu River to a global legal service network, and from data intellectual property registration certificates to the compliant flow of cross-border data spaces, Shanghai is addressing the challenges faced by companies "going global." Through institutional innovation, digital empowerment, and legal safeguards, the city is weaving a full-chain service "safety net" covering the pre, mid, and post-overseas expansion phases. This system enables enterprises not only to go abroad but also to integrate deeply into foreign markets and ascend value chains. To date, Shanghai has processed nearly 7,000 ODI (Overseas Direct Investment) filing projects, with a total investment exceeding US$40 billion. Over the past three years, the city has managed approximately 800 filings annually, with total filed amounts reaching around US$6 billion per year. The focus of companies going global is shifting from simply exporting products to the globalization of capital, brands, and services.

Building a Smart Hub

A primary concern for companies expanding overseas is information asymmetry. Shanghai-based gaming company Boke Technology Group Co., Ltd. encountered a thorny issue on its path abroad. "As we enter more countries and regions, we often face differences in local commercial rules and evidence regulations. With information asymmetry, we frequently don't know who to turn to or how to resolve problems. Without precise matching of professional resources and actual needs, trial costs can become exorbitant," said Wang Sijia, Legal Head at Boke Technology. To tackle this, Shanghai has established a "1+3+X" overseas comprehensive service system, advancing support to the pre-expansion phase. He Dongbin, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, explained: "1" refers to the "Shanghai Desk" smart online platform, featuring the "Hu Hanger" AI agent, which integrates AI consultations and ODI simulation functions. It has registered nearly 100,000 users in seven months. "3" denotes three differentiated offline sub-platforms in Pudong, Lingang, and Hongqiao, each with specific functions. "X" represents overseas service stations leveraging foreign institutions, trade associations, key enterprises, and agencies to form a localized response network. Shanghai emphasizes pre-investment risk control and post-investment support for development, resolving company difficulties through a "unified domestic acceptance, overseas localized response" model, ensuring businesses "go steadily, go far, and go safely." This year, over 5,500 companies have been served, with 383 new overseas projects initiated or acquired in the first half of the year, and a 105% increase in filed investment amounts. As a strategic partner of the Pudong sub-platform of Shanghai's comprehensive service platform for enterprises going global, Shanghai United Logistics & Business Consulting Co., Ltd. has witnessed this journey firsthand. Chen Yibo, General Manager of its Financial Consulting Department, shared data: "Over the past decade-plus, we have completed over 1,500 projects with a total filed amount exceeding US$59 billion. From the pilot of the ODI filing system in 2013, we have participated in and witnessed the complete development of the overseas investment supervision system." Professional service firms aiding overseas expansion are also accelerating their global layouts. Zhengchuang Group is a case in point. "Two years ago, we set up an office in Jakarta, Indonesia, serving Chinese companies expanding into Southeast Asia with services like business inspections, order resource matching, industry investment attraction, custom factory construction, and manufacturing infrastructure investment and management," said Zuo Weibo, CEO of Zhengchuang Group and Chairman of East Asia Asset Management. Since joining the Pudong enterprise "going global" service platform last September, the group has held 11 sharing sessions and investment promotion activities themed around Indonesia, providing support for Chinese companies to integrate into local markets faster and better.

Bridging the Data Gap

In the digital economy era, cross-border data flow presents both new challenges and opportunities for companies going global. "In the next five years, 'Digital Shanghai' will achieve leapfrog development, becoming a fully established digital benchmark city driving regional and broad-spectrum influence," said Feng Guian, Director of the Urban Digitalization Division at the Shanghai Municipal Data Bureau. At the Lujiazui Digital Intelligence Port, a base for enterprise digital overseas expansion, Shanghai is tackling data circulation pain points with a dual-wheel drive of institutional and technological innovation. The base focuses on "technology going global" and "content going global," constructing four core service capabilities: integrated international connection, a series of application scenario openings, one-stop professional service support, and a comprehensive policy support mechanism. "Through deep, cross-domain integration across sectors and industries, we aim to enhance Shanghai's global competitiveness," said Huang Liang, General Manager of the Lujiazui Digital Intelligence Port. As of August this year, over 100 companies, including Microsoft Advertising, Dongchedi, and HeWa Technology, have settled in, with one-third possessing overseas service capabilities. Digital overseas expansion today differs from the traditional model. The Pudong New Area leverages its overseas platform to help companies find their paths. The "Overseas Digital Mall" is a digital platform making it easier for companies to find services and select them transparently. "The Overseas Digital Mall solves the problems of 'where to find services, how to select services, and how to track progress,'" said Wang Hu, General Manager of Shanghai Pujiang Data Chain Digital Technology Co., Ltd. The platform aggregates professional service resources through a single entry point, offering standardized services for online inquiry, comparison, and application, while connecting complex needs with appropriate institutions. Simultaneously, the platform is building a Shanghai-Hong Kong cooperation zone and an enterprise overseas expansion AI agent. The Shanghai-Hong Kong zone focuses on needs like setting up overseas entities, opening bank accounts, and cross-border payments, linking mainland cargo trade data with the international data ecosystem via Hong Kong. The enterprise AI agent acts as a "digital employee," providing full-process assistance including needs analysis, policy consultation, and path planning. Shanghai HeWa Technology Co., Ltd. connects global recruitment ecosystems through AI-driven recruitment, using a human resources service industry interconnection platform to help companies quickly reach local professional agencies.

Laying a Solid Legal Foundation

If digital is the new channel for going global, then intellectual property (IP) is the solid "ballast" for companies abroad. In Shanghai, invisible data is being transformed into tangible assets through IP registration. Liu Yanhao, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, stated that Shanghai has pioneered open measures like joint ventures between Chinese and foreign law firms and mutual legal counsel appointments. It has certified a group of brand-name comprehensive and specialized law firms, introduced arbitration systems like the place of arbitration and special arbitration, with two arbitration institutions selected for the Ministry of Justice's first batch of world-class arbitration institutions with Chinese characteristics. Shanghai has twice been ranked among the world's top ten most popular arbitration seats and established the nation's first commercial mediation organization registered by a judicial administration department. Facing a new technological revolution, Shanghai is leveraging digital intelligence to enhance its role as a source of innovation. Efforts are focused on both online and offline channels to strengthen the foundation of foreign-related legal services. Online, the city is building a "one-stop, full-chain, intelligent" digital base and coordination center for foreign-related legal services, integrating high-quality resources like lawyers, arbitration, commercial mediation, notarization, and judicial appraisal to boost service capabilities. Xu Shang, a second-level inspector at the Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Administration, noted: "By the end of July 2026, Shanghai received 2,245 applications for data product IP registration and issued 1,592 certificates. Registered data products have achieved an accumulated economic value of approximately RMB 20.3 billion through licensing and transactions. 24 companies secured RMB 547 million in pledged financing based on data IP." The pilot's impact is nationwide, with applications from other provinces accounting for 30%. The practice of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Protection Center's Huangpu branch illustrates how legal innovation protects companies venturing abroad. In Huangpu District, stories of "data transforming into assets" are unfolding. Fan Jiahui, Deputy Director of the Huangpu District Intellectual Property Office's IP Institute, shared two cases. Shanghai Beiton Pharmaceutical Technology Consulting Co., Ltd., under targeted policy guidance, completed Shanghai's first data product IP pledge financing in the healthcare sector, securing RMB 10 million. Hero Esports obtained two registration certificates in under a month through a fast-track review channel, becoming one of the first awardees in Shanghai's sports and cultural industry. "We previously hosted top-tier events like the Asian Games esports, accumulating massive event data, but lacked a clear path for registration, certification, and rights proof," said Zhou Peipei, Director of the Legal and Capital Investment Center at Hero Esports. "The Huangpu IP Office proactively visited our production sites, provided one-on-one expert guidance, and helped us clarify the technical and data chains. Post-registration, the boundaries of our data assets are clearer, like giving data its own exclusive 'digital ID card'." Zhu Yanting, Technical Director of MicroStrategy Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., said companies apply for registration for three main reasons: protection and rights enforcement, as the certificate serves as preliminary evidence for data infringement disputes; asset valuation, enabling connection to Shanghai data trading platforms and use as collateral for bank loans; and qualification, allowing registration results to count as scientific achievements for policy funding applications. "The entire registration process is online and involves no administrative fees," Zhu said. Currently, qualified fast-track projects are reviewed within five working days. Beyond administrative registration, judicial protection is also advancing. The Huangpu District People's Procuratorate, through a "legal deputy director" linkage mechanism, moves IP protection forward. This administrative and judicial collaborative protection builds a solid firewall for companies going global. "Shanghai's procuratorial organs are continuously implementing the 'legal deputy director' mechanism, achieving procuratorial deployment in 46 world-class sci-tech parks and conducting over 300 legal activities, providing legal safeguards for innovation and overseas expansion," said Ren Lingling, a senior prosecutor at the Intellectual Property Procuratorial Department of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate.