On March 26, the inaugural signature event of “Invest in China” and Beijing special session, co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, were held at the China National Convention Center.

Photo by the hosts

On March 26, the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau gave plaques to nine entities recently recognized as regional headquarters of multinational corporations. Photo by the hosts

The inaugural signature event of “Invest in China” and Beijing special session, co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, took place at the China National Convention Center on March 26. Themed “New Opening-up in Beijing, New Opportunities for the World”, the Beijing session showcased the city’s advantages and opportunities for the world, attracting more than 200 participants, including representatives from global multinationals and industry leaders, foreign business associations, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan enterprises, as well as overseas Chinese merchants. Together, they discussed new visions for cooperation and mapped out strategies for future development.

City of Opportunities with Multiple Advantages

At the event, national departments explained policies that have recently garnered attention from multinational corporations. Ling Ji, Vice Minister and Deputy China International Trade Representative of the Ministry of Commerce, presented the content and implementation of a series of policies aimed at stabilizing foreign investment, including the Opinions of the State Council on Further Optimizing the Foreign Investment Environment and Intensifying Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment and Notice by the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the Action Plan to Steadily Promote High-Level Opening-Up and Enhance Efforts to Attract and Utilize Foreign Investment. Fang Xinping, Deputy Director of the Network Data Management Bureau of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, gave a policy interpretation on cross-border data management. Yan Fang, Deputy Head of the Payment and Settlement Department of the People’s Bank of China, interpreted the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Further Optimizing Payment Services to Facilitate Payments. Following these policy explanations, attendees expressed optimism about China’s economic development prospects and willingness to explore investment opportunities in China for win-win cooperation.

Sima Hong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, promoted new development opportunities in Beijing, highlighting the enormous potential brought by the “four centers” development based on the city’s strategic positioning as the capital. She stated that in recent years, by leveraging the “two zones” initiative, Beijing has actively aligned its policies with high-standard international economic and trade rules and steadily expanded institutional opening-up. The over 50 groundbreaking policies implemented in Beijing attracted and facilitated a series of landmark and leading projects. Last year, the State Council approved the Work Plan to Support Beijing in Pursuing the Initiative for the National Comprehensive Demonstration Zone for Further Opening-Up of the Service Sector. More than 170 new pilot measures were rolled out, bringing new opportunities for enterprise development. In addition, with a vibrant consumer market, Beijing is speeding up efforts to turn itself into a global consumption center by launching ten special programs and building two or three 100-billion-yuan world-class commercial districts. It is hoped that enterprises will grasp the opportunities unveiled by the high-level opening-up and utilize the huge consumer market to accelerate their presence in Beijing and introduce more new products, new services, and world-renowned brands to the city.

“Global Service Partner Program” Launched

At the event, Piao Xuedong, Director General of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, launched the “Global Service Partner Program” and explained it with “1+9+8”. The “1” here refers to the overarching goal of gathering and nurturing various service industry enterprises and institutions that fit the capital’s functions; “9” signifies attracting international partners in nine key service sectors aimed at supporting the “two zones” initiative, including sci-tech, cultural tourism, information, and financial services; “8” represents eight integrated services provided to “service partners”, such as high-level government-enterprise dialogues, consultation, policy alignment, and demands resolution.

Plaques were also awarded to nine entities recently recognized as regional headquarters of multinational corporations, including BMW China Automotive Trading Co., Ltd., Volvo Automotive Finance (China) Co., Ltd., and Varian Medical Systems China Co., Ltd. After the event, more than 120 executives from multinational corporations and representatives from foreign business associations made field visits to Zhongguancun Dongsheng International Science Park in Haidian District, Zhongguancun Life Science Park in Changping District, and Innovation Operation Center of Beijing’s High-level Autonomous Driving Demonstration Area in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, where they experienced firsthand the new vitality of Beijing’s open development.

Enhancing “Beijing Services”

The event included an exchange session, during which district government officials presented regional competitive industries, distinctive industrial parks, and investment incentives to executives of multinational corporations, representatives from foreign business associations, as well as representatives of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan enterprises, and overseas Chinese merchants. The aim was to encourage these enterprises to invest and develop in Beijing. Moreover, there were also updates on the “two zones” policies and service guides for foreign talent in Beijing, providing guidance for foreign-funded enterprises and foreign nationals seeking to innovate and thrive in the city, showcasing the supportive nature of “Beijing Services”.

Beijing continues to roll out initiatives to improve its business environment, providing high-quality and convenient services for business development. Additionally, it consistently addresses the needs of foreign enterprises and individuals, providing delicate services to facilitate work, study, life, and tourism for foreigners in the city. During the promotion session, Vice Mayor Sima Hong specifically mentioned the overseas visitor payment service centers at two major airports (Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport), along with plans to build comprehensive airport service centers to offer visitors integrated services in consultation, payment, tourism, transportation, and telecommunications upon arrival in Beijing.

Vice Mayor Sima Hong emphasized that Beijing will proactively benchmark against the latest World Bank business environment assessment framework to foster a market-oriented, law-based, and accessible business climate in keeping with international standards, further enhancing “Beijing Services”.