In 2025, Chinese enterprises are making a critical leap in their globalization journey. Intertwined internal and external headwinds have become catalysts, accelerating the transformation of local companies into multinational corporations. Throughout last year, Shanghai led the nation with a high export growth rate of 10.8%, with the Pudong district not only contributing over half of the city's total export volume but also achieving a growth rate of 11.9%. Serving corporate overseas expansion has become a priority at both the Shanghai municipal and Pudong district levels. Beneath the wave of internationalization lies a significant undercurrent related to industrial development and economic transformation. For Pudong, with its export-oriented economic foundation, while government support for corporate overseas expansion is not new, there remains substantial potential under new circumstances and challenges. "We have much work to do. Overseas expansion is not a temporary trend but signifies that our enterprises have reached a new developmental stage, beginning to 'go global' and gradually evolve into genuine multinational corporations," stated an official from the Pudong New Area Commerce Commission. "As a strategic link in the domestic and international dual circulation, Pudong must fully leverage its global resource allocation capabilities to serve the overseas expansion needs of domestic enterprises, utilizing Pudong's service resources to help companies expand successfully, operate stably, and integrate effectively."

Multiple Pudong government departments indicate that supporting overseas expansion has been a key focus across the district since last year. With the release of policies such as the "Pudong New Area Action Plan to Support Enterprises 'Going Global'" and "Several Measures to Support Overseas Expansion Headquarters and Pioneer Enterprises in Pudong New Area," along with the establishment of the Pudong New Area Enterprise Outbound Comprehensive Service Center, Pudong's overseas expansion service system has taken initial shape. Entering 2026, Pudong will accelerate the development of a multi-dimensional comprehensive service system and ecosystem for overseas expansion, striving to build a high-energy "overseas expansion service station."

Internationalization is inherent to Pudong's DNA. As a base for national strategies, after 36 years of development and opening up, Pudong has attracted and gathered substantial global capital and top-tier enterprises, while also witnessing many companies venture out into the world from its shores. By the end of 2025, Pudong had cumulatively recognized 500 regional headquarters of multinational corporations, accounting for 46.5% of Shanghai's total. It had also recognized 294 foreign-funded R&D centers, representing 46.23% of the city's total. In 2025, Pudong (including the Pilot Free Trade Zone) completed 404 outbound investment filing projects, constituting 44.25% of Shanghai's total, with a filed Chinese investment amount of $4.314 billion, representing 68.7% of the city's total. This has not only established Pudong's status as a gateway for foreign investment into China and a hub for multinational corporations but has also deeply integrated its economic fabric into the global trade network through its interconnection with the world economy. Consequently, Pudong has already built a foundation of mechanisms, platforms, and service networks to support corporate overseas expansion and international operations. For instance, institutionally, under national strategies like the Pilot Free Trade Zone and comprehensive reforms, Pudong has implemented pilot policies such as taking the lead in undertaking Outbound Direct Investment (ODI) filing authority, creating the Free Trade Account (FT) system, and facilitating cross-border data flow. In terms of service networks, the government has proactively established domestic and international networks, including the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone "Belt and Road" Technical Exchange International Cooperation Center and six overseas intellectual property service centers. Regarding the market ecosystem, mature local professional service providers in finance, law, consulting, and human resources continuously support successive waves of corporate overseas expansion. This inherent DNA and accumulated experience constitute Pudong's unique advantages in building a gateway for Chinese enterprises expanding abroad. Currently, as corporate overseas expansion enters a new phase characterized by a wider range of participants and more diverse target markets, with companies shifting from product exports to exporting technology, brands, services, standards, and engaging in overseas localized operations, these new dimensions and forms of expansion are calling for updated service provisions and support.

In response, it is understood that the Pudong government is currently focusing on two key questions: First, how to fully utilize its own resource endowments to build a robust comprehensive service system that precisely addresses the needs of enterprises at various stages of overseas expansion. Second, how to drive industrial upgrading, economic expansion, and high-quality development through supporting corporate overseas expansion. The solution proposed by Pudong is the creation of a "Multi-dimensional Overseas Expansion Service System." A crucial component of this system is the Pudong New Area Enterprise Outbound Comprehensive Service Center, established in March 2025 and located on the 31st floor of the Poly Pukai Financial Center - T1 Office Building in Pudong's core area. Here, Pudong has integrated professional government services, comprehensive services, and extensive professional service resources, forming a one-stop network covering online and offline, domestic and international, and governmental and professional services. It is also fostering a cluster of overseas expansion functional headquarters and professional service institutions. Additionally, Pudong has established five regional service stations and multiple specialized industrial functional platforms targeting key regions and industries, creating a networked support structure. "Our comprehensive service platform must possess strong resource-linking capabilities. On this platform, professional service institutions can efficiently connect with enterprise needs, and enterprises can find the necessary professional service providers, partners, and overseas networks throughout their expansion journey. This is the core service capability of the Outbound Comprehensive Service Platform and the key to building a competitive overseas expansion headquarters cluster," the official from the Commerce Commission explained.

Building on this strong comprehensive service capability, Pudong's goal is to create a benchmark effect as an "Overseas Expansion Headquarters Cluster." It is understood that an ecosystem of overseas-expanding enterprises, led by headquarters companies, supported by pioneer enterprises, and featuring deep aggregation in specialized fields, has begun to take shape in Pudong. In 2025, Pudong recognized 19 overseas expansion headquarters and 31 pioneer enterprises. It has cumulatively attracted over 500 enterprises with clear overseas expansion intentions and business foundations to establish a presence in Pudong, including 38 newly introduced functional headquarters spanning seven sectors: production services, biomedicine, technology, culture, investment, supply chain, and energy/environmental protection.

With the implementation of overarching policy documents and the operationalization of platforms like the Outbound Service Center, Pudong's corporate overseas expansion service system has formed an initial framework. However, the development of this system and its service capabilities is undoubtedly still in its early stages. Research indicates that for this systematic project, Pudong is currently focusing efforts on three core directions: building services covering the entire corporate overseas expansion lifecycle, weaving a dense global service network, and providing targeted services for key industries.

Firstly, the Pudong government clearly recognizes that while "going out" is one thing, "succeeding abroad" is another. Facilitating the initial step is just the beginning; the long-term, stable development of enterprises after expansion is the more critical measure of success. Currently, the Outbound Service Center has integrated three types of resources: government services, comprehensive services, and professional services. Government services include a joint review window for outbound investment, with staff from the Pudong Commerce Commission and Development and Reform Commission providing guidance before, during, and after the ODI process, offering early intervention, joint counseling, one-time notification, and rapid acceptance to improve approval efficiency. Comprehensive services address high-frequency needs like foreign investment, tax-related matters, company registration, personnel entry-exit, import-export services, and foreign-related intellectual property, facilitating connections with relevant government departments and assigning dedicated personnel to track service projects. Professional services aggregate over a hundred institutions covering nine major areas: strategic consulting, legal compliance, financial/tax planning, human resources, supply chain management, cross-border finance, inspection/certification, data information, and market promotion. Based on this, the Center aims to provide one-stop services for the entire overseas expansion lifecycle. Simultaneously, the Center is focused on creating high-value exchange platforms through events like country-specific investment seminars, industry sharing sessions, thematic exchanges, industry supply-demand matching, overseas expansion capability training, and security briefings, building bridges for information sharing and resource connection. The Center also provides real-time updates on the latest policies and market trends.

Entering 2026, alongside consolidating the initially established domestic service network, Pudong will prioritize the development of an overseas comprehensive service system. Currently, the Outbound Service Center has preliminarily established an overseas service network covering 147 countries and regions, and over 300 cities, relying on extensive partner organizations. The next step is to build and cultivate a reliable, professional, and mature overseas comprehensive service system, leveraging the global resources of Pudong's multinational corporation headquarters and international economic organizations, while selecting high-quality overseas chambers of commerce, industry associations, and industrial parks for collaboration. Government services are also "going global" in parallel. In key sectors and regions, relevant Pudong government departments are promoting the establishment of overseas service outlets to systematically build connections with overseas resources. Taking the increasingly important field of overseas intellectual property protection as an example, an official from the Pudong Intellectual Property Office stated that this year, based on the existing six overseas IP service centers, they plan to increase the density of the network, focusing on Belt and Road partner countries and regions hosting major international exhibitions. These overseas centers primarily undertake two tasks: collecting local information on IP legal environments, typical cases, litigation progress, and regulatory changes for enterprise reference; and providing professional consultation and resource connection for enterprises facing IP disputes locally. Similarly, according to the Pudong Justice Bureau, they have guided the release of a "Recommended Whitelist of Overseas Cooperative Law Firms." The first list covers 101 countries and regions, 235 major cities, and includes 491 foreign law firms, offering guidance to Chinese enterprises for efficiently connecting with global quality legal resources. In finance, the Pudong Financial Office has compiled and released a list of "going global" financial products from both Chinese and foreign banks, focusing on product service systems and global network layout. Through systematic integration and functional re-engineering, they aim to create a transparent, efficient, and full-chain cross-border financial service ecosystem. Regarding global networks, major Chinese state-owned banks, joint-stock banks, and local commercial banks have established subsidiaries, branches, and representative offices in 71 countries and regions globally. Foreign banks cover 35 countries and regions, primarily focusing on Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania.

The third focal point for Pudong's overseas expansion service system is "industrial precision cultivation." Pudong recognizes that services must respond to the differentiated needs and pain points of various industries, providing targeted support closely aligned with the strategic goal of promoting regional industrial development. It is understood that, building upon the Outbound Service Center and considering Pudong's industrial and regional characteristics, the district has, on one hand, established five regional overseas expansion service stations in Lujiazui, Zhangjiang, Jinqiao, Shibo, and the Bonded Zone. Shibo focuses on central state-owned enterprises, Zhangjiang on biomedicine and AI, Lujiazui on professional services, Jinqiao on smart manufacturing, and the Bonded Zone on logistics/supply chain. On the other hand, it links with multiple specialized industrial functional platforms—such as the Shanghai Digital Overseas Expansion Service Base, Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Comprehensive Service Center, Zhangjiang AI Innovation Town, Short Drama Overseas Expansion Base, and Shanghai Used Car International Trade Comprehensive Service Platform—forming an industrial-focused service platform matrix. Underpinning this matrix is the implementation of refined industrial services. For example, Pudong has launched a special plan addressing the needs of digital enterprises and those undergoing digital transformation, jointly creating the Shanghai Digital Overseas Expansion Service Base with the Shanghai Municipal Data Bureau to pioneer solutions for bottlenecks in digital expansion. The Pudong Intellectual Property Office provides targeted support for leading industries like integrated circuits and biomedicine. The Pudong Market Regulation Bureau, in its standard basic research, specifically targets key sectors like integrated circuits, biomedicine, and AI, cultivating internationally competitive standard projects and supporting entities in driving industrial expansion through standards. Thus, overseas expansion services are being strategically deployed and deepened across key industrial sectors.

In the longer term, the key to making the corporate overseas expansion service system truly effective lies in cultivating a mature, growing expansion ecosystem. This requires patience. How is this ecosystem nurtured? Promoting multi-dimensional collaborative development is seen as crucial. One aspect involves fostering synergy across industry chains. A notable trend in the current expansion wave is the coordinated overseas movement of entire industrial and supply chains. One of Pudong's next steps is to select a group of successful "chain leader" enterprises already established overseas, supporting them to deepen and expand their international footprint while driving collaboration among upstream and downstream partners. Another aspect is promoting cross-industry collaboration, particularly the mutual development between professional service providers and expanding enterprises. As a hub for domestic professional services, Pudong is building a higher-level, more internationally competitive professional service cluster to support corporate expansion and economic transformation. In legal services, for instance, 2025 saw Pudong release five guarantee measures for enterprise "going global" legal services, including upgrading foreign law inquiry services and issuing professional legal service vouchers to enhance the legal sector's capacity to empower expansion. Notably, Pudong is actively encouraging local law firms, accounting firms, and other professional service providers to "accompany" enterprises abroad, growing and enhancing their international service capabilities in the process to become multinational professional service institutions.

Secondly, leveraging its role and advantages in attracting foreign investment and trade ("bringing in"), Pudong is already working to synergize "bringing in" with "going out." Pudong recognizes that in the context of economic transformation and upgrading, two-way investment should not proceed on parallel tracks but should be combined for mutual reinforcement, opening new development spaces. "Many countries now come to Pudong for investment promotion, expressing willingness to support our enterprises locally. We suggest deeper cooperation, hoping that capital from these countries can also invest in Pudong enterprises, while also facilitating the landing and operation of our enterprises in their countries, providing services, resource connections, and market opportunities," the Commerce Commission official stated.

Thirdly, Pudong benefits from the overlapping advantages of being a National Leading Area, a Pilot Free Trade Zone, and a Comprehensive Reform Pilot Zone, making it fertile ground for institutional innovation. Utilizing this foundation to remove barriers and open channels for corporate expansion is a key future focus. Pudong has already undertaken several explorations in institutional openness to support expansion. For example, in December 2025, the pilot for upgrading the functionality of Free Trade Accounts in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone was implemented, heralding a new level of liberalization and facilitation for cross-border trade and investment. Post-implementation, the pilot will fully align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, allowing funds to be transferred freely "across the first tier" within business scopes and outside negative lists without quota limits, and managed macro-prudentially "across the second tier." Processes for foreign debt and overseas lending receipts/payments are simplified, facilitating easier capital movement with overseas entities. Furthermore, the Pudong Financial Office is promoting legislation related to free trade offshore bonds and actively exploring an offshore financial policy system—including offshore bonds and credits—aligned with international rules, aiming to develop cross-border trade and reinsurance business. The Pudong New Area Financial Industry High-Quality Development Special Fund is also considering reserving a section to support the development of free trade offshore bond business, aiding "going global" enterprises and quality enterprises from Belt and Road partner countries in participating. Regarding the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone "Belt and Road" Technical Exchange International Cooperation Center, Pudong has established five overseas sub-centers and two service stations in regions like the Middle East, East Asia, and South America, cumulatively issuing over 500,000 certificates (e.g., IQNet, CB, CE), facilitating exports worth over ten billion RMB to Belt and Road countries. In the future, Pudong will continue deepening exploration in areas like green service mechanisms for outbound investment and improving cross-border data governance mechanisms, using institutional innovation to build a higher-level paradigm for the overseas expansion ecosystem.

Standing at the starting point of a new round of high-level opening up, Pudong is fully committed to constructing a multi-dimensional, industrially-focused comprehensive overseas expansion service system, continuously cultivating a synergistic, open, and innovative ecological foundation. A high-energy "overseas expansion service station" is rapidly taking shape, poised to navigate Chinese enterprises towards new successes on the global stage.