New fund supports providers of goods and services

An opening and signing ceremony for the Zhuhai Development & Investment Fund was held at the Zhuhai International Convention & Exhibition Center on Aug 12, signifying successful reform of the city's investment and finance system.

The Zhuhai Fund will oversee government allocations and bring more social capital to the real economy. It is expected to speed up transportation, industrial, and urban development, impelling a new round of growth, stated a spokesperson.

More than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) is to be allocated. Operation and management will be carried out under the guidelines of “government guidance, scientific decision-making, market-oriented operation, and risk prevention”.

The fund will flow into infrastructure projects and industries involving supply-side structural reform, construction of an innovative hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay, Belt & Road Initiative, Pearl River West Bank Core City, and urban-rural shared City of Happiness.

Initiation of the Zhuhai Development & Investment Fund [Photo by Zhao Zi / Zhuhai Daily]

The industrial fund will be used to create an advanced equipment manufacturing industrial belt on the west bank of the Pearl River; Made in China 2025 Program Pilot City; high-end manufacturing, upscale service, hi-tech industry, and modern agriculture; and areas such as state-owned enterprise reform and innovation and entrepreneurship.

In terms of infrastructure projects, construction of industrial parks, transportation, eco-environment protection, and a Smart City will be funded.

Mayor Li Zezhong and Xiao Xue, director general of the Guangdong Financial Affairs Office, unveiled the plaque for the Zhuhai Fund. Attendees included 240 representatives and guests from provincial and municipal departments, real economy enterprises, banks, and investment institutions.

By joining hands with financial investment institutions, Zhuhai is bringing together governmental and social capital, Li said at the ceremony.

Initially, Zhuhai will set up 19 sub-funds with a total scale of 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion). Among them, infrastructure-related development and investment funds cover the high-end manufacturing and intellectual industry, industrial parks, transportation, urban growth, and environmental protection.