Tourists are seen at the Bund in Shanghai, east China, March 24, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

Despite the COVID-19 epidemic, foreign investors have increased their investment in Shanghai in a bid to cash in on the business opportunities in China.

Shanghai received 10.28 billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment in the first half of 2020, up by 5.4 percent year on year, said the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce on Wednesday.

Large investment projects accounted for a bigger share, with a total investment of 5.35 billion U.S. dollars, said the commission. Of all, 19 projects had received foreign investment of more than 100 million U.S. dollars each.

In the Jan.-June period, 26 regional headquarters of foreign multinational companies and 10 foreign-funded research and development centers were established in Shanghai.

By June, the number of regional headquarters of foreign multinational companies and that of foreign-funded research and development centers in Shanghai had reached 746 and 471, respectively.