Shanghai is now one of the most liberal cities in terms of allowing foreign investment. In fact, many experimental forms of foreign investment were first tried in Shanghai, such as foreign banking, insurance, and BOT projects. Generally, channels of foreign investment include direct foreign investment, compensation trade, assembly and processing, technology transfer, financial institutions, foreign holding companies, land and real estate development, BOT projects, and international leasing. Although most of these forms of investment are governed by national law, certain more experimental forms of investment are regulated mainly by local rules.
