Although the global economy is assessed as gloomy in 2023, banks and foreign institutions such as Morgan Stanley raised their outlook for China's GDP growth. Foreign investors, traders and government officers are making plans, looking for new opportunities in China, especially in Guangdong, its economic power house.
The Guangdong People's Congress, the local state organ of power in the province, kicked off on January 12, during which the government work report was delivered to unveil plans in 2023. How will Guangdong enhance its ties with global partners? Let's ask the Congress deputies.
Global trade and investment partnership to be boosted in 2023
Qu Jian, Deputy to 14th Guangdong People's Congress and Vice President of China Development Institute, considers the government work report gives foreign investors confidence in investing in Guangdong.
“On the one hand, Guangdong will put more efforts to introduce foreign investment and enterprises to the province. On the other, it emphasizes to develop a more open business environment through implementing pilot reforms in Shenzhen as well as developing major platforms such as Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha,” Qu elaborated.
Qu anticipated foreign-funded manufacturing enterprises, especially those in the field of technological innovation, will be preferential when the government invite investment next stage as Guangdong pledges to develop into a leading province in manufacturing and quality.
High-level opening-up is highlighted in Guangdong's plan for 2023 with a series of strategies to improve import and export services, foster trade-related enterprises and industrial clusters while furthering global partnership through Belt and Road Initiative, RCEP, Free Trade Zone and major exhibitions such as Canton Fair.
“The Guangdong Department of Commerce helps enterprises expand their overseas markets every year, especially through exhibitions,” said Xie Hong, Deputy to 14th Guangdong People's Congress and President of Guangdong Council for the Development Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Xie found Guangdong SMEs are very interested in markets in emerging countries along the Belt and Road Initiative including countries of Central Asia, Middle East and Africa. The association has plans for business tours to Central and East Asian countries and participate in market exchanges overseas this year.
In addition, the government work report indicates Guangdong vows to further reform and open up in next 5 years through optimizing the foreign trade structure, encouraging more foreign investment, improve outsourcing quality, developing close international economic relations, and attracting more global talent.
Congress deputies to facilitate international cooperation in various sectors
At the Congress meeting, deputies address a wide range of issues met by Guangdong enterprises in cooperation with their global counterparts. They submit related motions and put forward suggestions, which the departments and organizations concerned should consider, deal with and reply to.
“To support Chinese enterprises going global, we should provide cross-border legal services regarding overseas investment, mergers and acquisitions. I have put forward a motion to establish a Belt and Road dispute resolution mechanism, which makes use of diversified solutions including litigation, arbitration and mediation to solve disputes with other countries,” said Han Jun, Deputy to 14th Guangdong People's Congress and Partner of V&T law firm.
“The development of the GBA and the reforms in Shenzhen require a strong judicial system and connection between the judicial systems of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Moreover, now that companies are resuming their overseas business, the demand for international legal services is expected to surge rapidly,” she said.
In the future, Han will practice her duty and devote herself to the international legal development of Guangdong with the aim to help more enterprises investing in Guangdong and more Guangdong enterprises to go global.
“When most Guangdong enterprises develop their business and partnership overseas, they lack experience and support from the government. They also need to be more familiar with the rules and standards of different markets,” said Xie Hong.
Being the President of Guangdong Council for the Development Promotion of SMEs, Xie will pay close attention to the high-quality development of enterprises through brand marketing and improving manufacturing services such as industrial design, R&D and rule formulation so as to eventually improve the international competitiveness of SMEs.
Reported by Jasmine
Video by Axin
Edited by Wing, Jerry
