Shanghai, China's leading industrial and commercial city, has attracted an increasing number of overseas investors to its agricultural sector over the past several years.

Recent statistics show that overseas investors have established a total of 613 agricultural ventures in this metropolis, with combined contractual overseas capital of more than one billion U.S. dollars.

These overseas-funded businesses are mainly engaged in areas such as farm produce processing, livestock husbandry, horticulture, and growing of vegetables and fruit.

Yuan Yixing, deputy-director of the Shanghai Municipal Agriculture Commission, said that overseas investors may find a lot of opportunities in Shanghai's agricultural sector because the city, with a population of about 13 million, boasts a huge market and improved business environment.

According to Yuan, Shanghai has a great demand for agricultural products but produces only 50 percent of required pork products, 80 percent of eggs and smaller amounts of beef and mutton.

Rural areas in Shanghai have stepped up efforts to attract investments from other parts of the world in recent years.

Work on 12 agricultural development zones, each covering an area of more than 10 sq km, began last year in the suburbs.