The 2024 Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), which will be held on November 8, has already attracted over 430 representatives from Fortune Global 500, industry-leading companies and foreign Chambers of Commerce, according to Zhang Jingsong, Director-General of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province.
The conference is an annual platform to promote mutual understanding between Guangdong and the Global community, displaying Guangdong's tremendous investment opportunities and abundant incentives customized for foreign investors.
Besides the conference, in recent years, tremendous efforts have been made to encourage foreign investment and facilitate foreign investors in Guangdong. According to Zhang, up to 150 million RMB will be awarded to qualified high-tech manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong.
Fruitful results from the two previous conferences
According to Zhang, productive achievements have been made at the two previous conferences. The 2022 Investment Promotion Conference saw the signing of 853 investment and trade projects, including 731 investment projects with a total investment of 1.81 trillion yuan. To date, 567 investment projects have commenced, representing a commencement rate of 77.6%; the amount of investment completed stands at 521.81 billion yuan, which is 28.9% of the planned investment.
While the 2023 Investment Promotion Conference resulted in the signing of 859 investment and trade projects, with 824 being investment projects and a total investment of 1.63 trillion yuan. Currently, 643 investment projects have started, with a commencement rate of 78.0%; the completed investment amount is 525.57 billion yuan, accounting for 32.3% of the total planned investment.
Policies and measures effectively attract foreign investment
Zhang indicated at the press conference that the province has provided further incentives and services to foreign investment in recent years. This year, Guangdong has held 22 round-table meetings of foreign-funded enterprises, and 251 foreign-funded enterprises participated, coordinating and solving 427 demands of enterprises.
In May this year, the Implementation Plan for Further Increasing the Attraction and Utilization of Foreign Investment in Guangdong Province was issued. The plan supports foreign-funded enterprises with a certain amount of investment in Guangdong to register and settle down in the province, particularly in the manufacturing industry.
The policy covers a broad range of beneficiaries. All non-restricted areas of foreign investment, except for real estate and finance, are within the scope of rewards.
The support is also substantial. Rewards are given based on different industry sectors and investment ratios: for high-tech manufacturing enterprises, rewards are up to 3% of the annual actual increased foreign investment, with a maximum reward of 150 million yuan; for general manufacturing and high-tech service enterprises, rewards are up to 2% of the actual increased foreign investment, with a maximum of 150 million yuan for general manufacturing and 80 million yuan for high-tech services; for other industries, rewards are at 1%, with a maximum of 80 million yuan.
The thresholds to these awards are set according to local conditions. For foreign-funded enterprises established in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, and Zhongshan, the annual actual increased investment amount must reach at least 50 million US dollars; for those established in the other 15 cities within the province, the investment amount is relaxed to at least 10 million US dollars.
Apart from investing, setting up headquarters is encouraged and supported. For foreign multinational companies that establish regional headquarters in Guangdong and meet the corresponding annual increased investment standards (10 million US dollars for Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, and Zhongshan, and 5 million US dollars for the other 15 cities), each will receive a one-time reward of 5 million yuan.
After the policy is put into practice, foreign investment has been attracted in fields such as advanced manufacturing, modern services, specialized, high-end and innovation-driven industries, and new quality productive force sectors.
Reporter | Chua
Video | Southcn.com, Wingheng
Editor | Nan, Will, James
