Mayor Han Zheng yesterday met with Jeffrey R. Immelt, president and CEO of General Electric Co.

Han said the Shanghai government would support GE’s development in the city and added he hopes the company will expand its cooperation with the city.

Han noted that the great changes that have taken place in Shanghai could not be separated from the contributions of more than 40,000 foreign-invested companies, including GE.

Shanghai will sign a cooperation memorandum with GE covering five fields, energy, medical, financial, human resources and the World Expo, Han said.

“I believe that by cooperating with GE, utilizing GE’s advanced technology, Shanghai will have a great achievement in improving energy efficiency.”

Han thanked GE for its support of the World Expo 2010, and said he hopes GE’s exhibition would be one of the highlights of the company pavilions at the event.