Foreign investors flock to southern metropolis

Shenzhen's excellent environment proves to be a draw for international investors and professionals. Provided to China Daily

Raj Oswal is an Indian-American who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States and is now pursuing a career as a tech geek in Shenzhen, a part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"I have noticed that a lot of tech companies with lots of interesting technologies are from Shenzhen," he said.

Oswal came to Shenzhen in April 2019 to represent a San Francisco-based tech company called Gupshup, and started to run his own company last year.

Shenzhen was rated first in China in ease of doing business, in a report jointly published by China Development Research Foundation and PwC China in early September.

The evaluation of ease of doing business includes five key factors. They are logistics, entrepreneurial vitality, foreign trade dependence, balance of payments and business environment.

"The first place in the ranking demonstrates Shenzhen's excellent business-friendly environment," said Zhang Lijun, a partner of PwC China.

Shenzhen was selected by the State Council as one of six cities to carry out business environment innovation last November. It issued an implementation plan in May to propose tasks in fields such as market environment, rule of law, openness and government affairs.

"Besides the 101 reform requirements set by the central government, we proposed another 99 assignments highlighting three areas regarding strengthening the supply of resources, connecting with new international rules and cultivating high-quality new market entities," said Wang Jun, an official with the city's development and reform commission.

The city recorded more than 3.8 million market entities by the end of July, up 4% from a year before, ranking it first among Chinese mainland cities, according to official statistics.

The city also issued new regulations on foreign investment in late August, which will come into force on Nov 1. The regulations aim to promote foreign investment, protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, and further optimize the business environment of the city.

The regulations said foreign investors are encouraged to invest in Shenzhen's key sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection.

They highlight the equal treatment for foreign-invested enterprises to join the city's government-backed science and technology programs and other research platforms.

Technological cooperation between foreign businesses and Shenzhen's universities, research institutions, trade associations and enterprises are being encouraged as well.

Shenzhen has become increasingly attractive to foreign investors, thanks to its favorable business environment. Its actual use of foreign capital reached about $5.8 billion in the first half of the year, up 11% year-on-year, the city's commerce bureau said.

In September, ABB set up the headquarters for its e-mobility business in Shenzhen.

Frank Muehlon, CEO of ABB E-Mobility, said Shenzhen's high-quality resources and environment have created a great opportunity for ABB.

"In the future, ABB E-Mobility will continue to increase investment in Shenzhen and China, creating a smarter, and more sustainable transportation sector through close cooperation with local enterprises."