Shanghai is considering establishing a mechanism to bolster outbound foreign investment, a city official said today at a Sino-US investment conference.

"The mechanism is to pool Shanghai's resources as a financial center and a hub of regional headquarters of multinational companies," said Dong Tao, vice president of the Shanghai Foreign Investment Board.

"It will give Shanghai investors an advantage in foreign markets and help them break the bottleneck to invest overseas," Dong said at the conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

Shanghai companies had channeled US$13.5 billion of funds to overseas markets by the end of last year. Up to 75 percent of the total was invested over the past four years, he said.

Shanghai's outbound investment mainly covers wholesale and retail, commercial services, logistics, manufacturing and information technology. It is growing faster and more diversified, Dong added.

But investors still face hurdles like unfair restrictions in foreign markets due to misunderstandings and cultural differences. Dong said Asia Pacific region remains the biggest destination of investment from Shanghai.