Guangzhou, often referred to as China's window to the world, continues to attract overseas funded enterprises thanks to favorable government policies, according to recent statistics.

Figures show the number of newly-established foreign invested enterprises in the city for the first half year reached 1,129, a 38.9 percent increase over the same period last year.

Since Oct 8 last year, foreign enterprises in Guangzhou have been given pre-establishment national treatment — treated the same as Chinese companies and foreign investments has been allowed to flow more freely into more sectors of the economy than ever before, according to a spokesperson of the Guangzhou municipal commission of commerce.

For those investments that are not involved in special administrative measures for entry, online registrations are even offered. As of the end of June this year, more than 4,200 foreign projects have been registered online.

In the future, Guangzhou will redouble its efforts to create an even better business atmosphere and introduce further policies to attract investment. In the second half of the year, the city will target Fortune Global 500 companies, top 500 enterprises in China and key private companies – working hard to meet the demands of their projects, and attract them to settle in Guangzhou as well as further improving investment services. 

The city has established a great mechanism to serve investment projects. For instance, recently it took just 100 days between a 61-billion-yuan project ($9 billion) being announced and construction starting.

A total of 1,129 foreign enterprises have settled in Guangzhou in the first half year of 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]