Nearly 1 percent of people living and working in Shanghai hail from overseas, according to the 2010 census, which counted individuals from outside the Chinese mainland for the first time since the country started the reports in 1953.

Of the 0.91 percent of people from overseas – or 210,000 people – some 44,900 people from Taiwan make up the largest overseas group, accounting for 21.6 percent of the demographic. Some 29,700 Japanese comprise the second-largest of the overseas crowd, while American trail behind in third with 23,600 people.

According to the latest figures released this week, the bulk of the city's overseas residents reside in Pudong New Area, with more than 45,400 expatriates settling east of the Huangpu River. Changning district is also a popular spot amongst the group; 42,200 of them, mostly Japanese and Korean, have chosen to plant themselves in the downtown core.

In the nation's sixth headcount, overseas residents living on the Chinese mainland for at least three months were counted in November of last year, proving that more than 214 nationalities have since called the city home.

But although the latest census proves that Shanghai fares better than its counterpart in the capital when it comes to attracting international crowds – Beijing has only about half as many people in the same category, or 107,445 overseas residents – the metropolis coined as "China's Big Apple" has yet to really compete with other major Asian players such as Hong Kong and Tokyo, which have 437,000 and 417,000 overseas residents, respectively.

A lack of suitable recruitment policies, tax incentives, simple and reliable foreign-friendly services along with transparent government services are leaving Shanghai out of the worldly race, according to Cheng Yuan, a researcher who specializes in population studies at Fudan University.

"The city began to attract overseas talents to Shanghai in the early 1990s, which has been successful," he told the Global Times on Thursday. "But, now it's time to update the more relevant conditions to provide the kinds of services and policies needed to attract and retain qualified overseas talents."

Cheng added that the tax reforms introduced at the start of the month, which up tax burdens from 40 to 45 percent for people whose monthly incomes hit 83,500 yuan ($12,523), is likely to turn more expats away from the city.

"Also, most expats don't use public healthcare and their children don't attend public schools," he said. "So, the high taxes they're charged is a burden to them.

"But take Hong Kong, for example," he said. "Like locals, expats pay no more than 15 percent of what they make, despite what they earn – it's a lot lower than here."

Cheng also suggested the city improve English-friendly services to make daily life easier for non-Putonghua speakers, particularly for mandatory procedures, including obtaining a valid visa.