Investment conference to link up with global investors

Event highlights Guangzhou's support and services for foreign-funded projects

The 10th Guangzhou Annual Investment Conference China, taking place on Monday and Tuesday in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, is focused on the city's development of new quality productive forces via in-depth dialogue around development trends in such industries as digital economy, green energy, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals.

More than 2,000 guests are attending the conference, including representatives from more than 300 of the world's top 500 multinational companies, more than 200 of China's top 500 private enterprises and industry-leading companies, more than 60 global unicorn enterprises and foreign consulates. Additionally, six branch activities have supported the event. The first took place in Hong Kong on Jan 26, followed by stops in the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan and Singapore. They focused on in-depth exchanges regarding investment opportunities in fields such as scientific and technological innovation in Guangzhou, financial integration between Guangzhou and Hong Kong, investment opportunities at the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and opportunities for Japanese investors, attracting more than 100 institutions and 1,000 corporate representatives.

For the first time, this year's edition of the Guangzhou Annual Investment Conference China has set up a plenary session at the Canton Fair venue as a prelude to the 135th Canton Fair, which will open on April 15.

"This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Guangzhou Annual Investment Conference. Over the past decade, we have made every effort to build the conference into a high-end platform, promoting Guangzhou and making the city better known worldwide," said an official from the Guangzhou bureau of commerce, adding the event will also include an exhibition of the city's investment attraction achievements, release 10 typical investment cases and introduce a new batch of global partners.

The conference also features 14 parallel sessions and six guest inspection routes, with each city district sharing its latest industrial policies, projects and investment opportunities. In addition to this, the Guangzhou city government is unveiling a promotional video showcasing 2024 industrial investment, and contracts for multiple major projects are expected to be signed.

As a national advanced manufacturing base, international trade center and city designated for cultivation of an international consumption center, Guangzhou is home to 35 industries in major categories, along with six advanced manufacturing clusters with an output value each exceeding 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion). In January and February 2024, the added value of industrial enterprises above a designated size reached 68 billion yuan — a 7 percent increase year-on-year. The added value of high-tech manufacturing industries increased by 18.2 percent, with the pharmaceutical as well as electronic and communication equipment manufacturing industries growing by 16 and 22.5 percent respectively.

In 2023, the paid-in foreign investment in Guangzhou reached 48.32 billion yuan, accounting for 30.4 percent of the total in Guangdong province and 4.3 percent of the national total, ranking fifth in the country. In the first two months of 2024, the city established 1,000 new foreign-invested enterprises — an increase of 56.7 percent.

As an important component of the national innovation center, Guangzhou boasts key facilities such as the Greater Bay Area National Center of Technology Innovation. It also boasts national manufacturing innovation centers in new displays and new energy storage, national industry innovation centers in nanotechnology and advanced polymer materials, and 10 key national laboratories. There are about 13,000 high-tech enterprises, and 21,000 technology-driven small and medium-sized enterprises.

With the synergistic policies of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development plan and the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Guangzhou's Nansha district has been designated as a strategic platform rooted in the Greater Bay Area. The city also possesses three national economic and technological development zones — Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone and Zengcheng Economic and Technological Development Zone — three national comprehensive bonded zones and several national development platforms, including China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and the National Artificial Intelligence and Digital Economy Pilot Zone.

According to officials, by implementing a refined version of business environment reforms, Guangzhou is firmly focused on satisfying the needs of industry, enterprises and entrepreneurs. Innovative practices in service, trade and credit commitment applications have been selected as national demonstration cases, placing the city at the national forefront of government transparency and rule of law. The officials said Guangzhou will continue to strengthen its services and support for foreign-funded enterprises and projects, optimize the environment for foreign investment and promote the construction of an open platform to enhance investor confidence.

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