Four global giants – from automaker GM, to medical equipment firm Stryker, Katcon mobile exhaust firm and Asia's largest biomedicine company Takeda – inked deals with Shanghai's Pudong on Thursday to increase local investment.

GM will invest US$100 million in its high-end imported car business in Pudong. Stryker, one of the world's largest medical technology companies, will set up its regional headquarters in Pudong.

Katcon, a leading automobile exhaust systems supplier, will launch its global R&D center in Pudong. And Takeda, the largest biomedicine company in Asia, will launch its Asian R&D center in Pudong.

GM Executive Vice President and GM China President Julian Blissett called Pudong home for GM China. After 25 years of development in Pudong, it sees still sees Pudong as the best choice for its expansion in China.

The latest US$100 million underscores the company's long-term confidence in China, he added.

In the first five months this year, Pudong attracted US$4.3 billion in foreign investment, drawing in nine multinationals to set up their regional headquarters there – nearly 53 percent of Shanghai's total.

That brought the total number in the new area to 398. It's also now home to 258 R&D centers of multinational companies, accounting for more than half of Shanghai's total.