SHANGHAI - East China's Shanghai Pudong New Area received more than $3.14 billion in actualized foreign investment in the first five months of the year, an increase of 32.3 percent year-on-year, official data shows.  

The area has taken measures to encourage foreign manufacturers to upgrade their factories to high-end, intelligent and green versions, and to attract advanced manufacturing projects to fill gaps in, strengthen links of, and extend the industrial chains.

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Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is one of the many companies that have ramped up investment in Pudong. In the first half of this year, Roche built a new production base in Zhangjiang Science City, with a construction area of about 25,000 square meters.

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The base is expected to be completed in 2029 and put into operation in 2031. This project will strengthen Roche's supply chain and local production layout in China and comprehensively enhance the complete medical value chain, according to the company.

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China's large market provides a stage for the development of foreign-funded enterprises. "The implementation of this project marks a significant development in Roche's local production capacity in China and represents a major breakthrough in the local production of innovative drugs in this important market," said Vivian Bian, CEO of Roche Pharma China.

This new investment also enables Roche to better meet the needs of Chinese patients and respond to local demands more quickly, Bian added.