An online meeting takes place between the Shanghai government and European companies with operations in the city. [Photo/WeChat account: scofcom]

Shanghai's third government-enterprise roundtable meeting – for European companies – was convened online by the city in East China on June 1, chaired by Vice-Mayor Zong Ming.

The meeting aimed to effectively resolve difficulties encountered by enterprises deploying COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control and that are in the process of resuming work and production.

It also aimed to boost the confidence of companies to invest there and be actively involved in the development of the city.

During the meeting, Gu Jun, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, gave a briefing on the city's policies for accelerating the recovery and revitalization of its economy.

Senior executives from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and six European groups – ABB, Roche Diagnostics, SAP, Siemens Energy, Merck Display and Lego – participated in the online discussions.

They talked about their COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures and gave details about their progress in resuming production, as well as expressed their confidence and determination to keep investing in Shanghai.

The executives also posed questions and made observations, including suggestions to reduce social security and even provide exemptions. They talked about the city's biomedical innovation policy and called for the facilitating of visa processing in China, as well as speeding up the resumption of construction projects and making more progress with construction approvals.

City officials responded to them on the spot.

Vice-mayor Zong Ming said that Europe was one of the important sources of investment in Shanghai. The regional headquarters of multinational companies set up by European companies account for 31 percent of the international HQs there and foreign research and development centers account for 18 percent.

Zong said that Shanghai was making every effort to bring production and life back to normal. She hoped European groups would retain their confidence and take a proactive role in the city's economic revitalization.