Foreign businesses bullish on China's future

 Update:2021-03-01    Source: chinadaily.com.cn

Harley Seyedin, president of AmCham South China (third from right), said China is still the top destination for foreign investment around the world, as foreign companies are optimistic on the 2021 business outlook in the country. [Zheng Caixiong/China Daily]

Despite tensions in the China-US relationship and the coronvirus pandemic last year, 94 percent of American companies surveyed see bright prospects in the Chinese market for 2021, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in South China on Friday.

None of the companies surveyed showed a willingness to leave the country. The research was reported in the 2021 White Paper on the Business Environment in China and the 2021 Special Report on the State of Business in South China.

Harley Seyedin, president of AmCham South China, said China remains the top destination for foreign investment worldwide. Many companies believe they will see an improvement in Sino-US relations this year, he said.

"There is a general consensus within the business community that the Biden administration will view the Sino-US relationship through a different looking glass," he said. "And I predict a rather long honeymoon period within which the two sides will have an opportunity to examine their differences, evaluate what is important to each side and begin friendly and mutually respectful dialogue."

Seyedin said he expects the US and China to hit a reset button and very likely open a new era of cooperation that will benefit not just themselves but the entire globe.

"While a combination of factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, severely impacted the global economy last year, only a slight decrease in actual investment in China was realized," said Seyedin at a news conference in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Friday.

"Factors including huge market potential, preferential policies and uncertainties of the pandemic in other countries and regions have whetted companies' interest to increase their investment in China, or shift investment to China," he said.

Seventy-three percent of the American companies surveyed and 70 percent of the Chinese ones plan to reinvest in China this year, while 57 percent of participants from the European Union and others have reinvestment plans, Seyedin said.

The vast majority of companies surveyed have expansion plans in China over the next three years, he said.

Guangzhou has been voted the most preferred destination for foreign investment in China in four consecutive years, Seyedin said.

The southern metropolis is followed by Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, while other cities, including Dongguan, Chengdu and Zhuhai, are also attracting investors' interest, he added.

Guangzhou welcomes $47b in new foreign investment

 Update:2021-03-04    Source: eguangzhou.gov.cn

Matthew Price, president of Greater China at P&G. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A series of events including a symposium on cooperation between Guangdong province and transnational companies during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period and a signing ceremony for strategic cooperation framework agreements were held in Guangzhou on March 2.

A total of 37 cooperation intention agreements with an overall investment of more than 300 billion yuan ($46.37 billion) were signed between Guangdong province and transnational companies during the ceremony.

Ten of these agreements, with a total investment of around 44.1 billion yuan, were related to Guangzhou, covering areas spanning modern agriculture, high technologies and retail business.

Foreign investment has been an important driver of Guangzhou's economic development for years and the city saw an annual growth rate of 5.6 percent during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

Foreign-invested companies have contributed to more than 50 percent of Guangzhou's output value of industrial companies with an annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($3.09 million) in 2020, as well as 37 percent of the city's total import and export volume over the year.

The city's actual use of foreign capital in 2020 expanded by 7.5 percent year-on-year to 49.37 billion yuan.

The city has set its sights on building a distribution center for global resources, striving to become the first choice for global companies and talents seeking development opportunities.

"The mutually beneficial relationship between the Guangzhou government and companies has been attractive for global investors," said Matthew Price, president of Greater China at Procter & Gamble Co.

"From my point of view, Guangzhou's business environment can be ranked among the world's first class," added Price.

P&G was one of the first Fortune Global 500 companies to invest in Guangzhou. It set up its first Chinese joint venture company in Guangzhou in 1988 and put its first Chinese production base in Huangpu district in 1990.

Luminaries see GBA as global financial hub

 Update:2021-03-05    Source: Chinadaily.com.cn

Yuan-denominated asset investment services, fintech offerings to get priority

Workers undertake construction of a railway bridge in South China's Guangdong province. The bridge interlinks the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. [Photo/XINHUA]

Lawmakers and political advisers have suggested to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into an international financial hub, with a flurry of fintech, green finance and renminbi-denominated asset investment services in the region.

In the GBA financial hub, fintech innovations, digital currency trials for cross-border use, and programs for stock, insurance and carbon trading across different regions should be encouraged, with an eye on making the GBA an attractive destination for global investors, Bai Hexiang, head of the Guangdong branch of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on Thursday.

The hub could link the onshore market, which has Shanghai as the financial center, and the offshore market catered by Hong Kong, said Bai, who is also a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress. He said the GBA hub should be as important as the Shanghai international financial center, but it should develop in a different manner.

Building the GBA financial hub is expected to be one of the tasks of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). It will be led by the central government under a mechanism that involves the central bank and financial regulators, said Bai.

Regulators have already achieved a consensus on jointly supervising wealth management products in the area with a pilot program, the so-called cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect, which allows residents to conduct cross-boundary investments in such financial instruments, the central bank announced earlier.

China can learn from the system created in the European Union that enables a financial institution, which receives a business license in one area, to offer financial services via branches across the entire EU.

Zhou Xiaochuan, former central bank governor, had earlier suggested that the GBA take the EU system as a reference for developing financial connect programs, with unified regulatory standards.

Peter Wong, HSBC's Asia-Pacific chief executive and a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, suggested that China should create a financial regulatory system that is geared to international standards, to accelerate the integration of financial markets and services in the GBA area.

In a proposal to the CPPCC National Committee, Wong said that though the GBA has made great strides in financial infrastructure construction, interconnectivity between financial markets, and the further opening up of China's financial sector, some institutional obstacles still restricted the development of integrated financial markets and services within the region. Problems such as differences in financial regulations and the not-so-smooth running of financial products and services across borders are still waiting to be solved.

"China could grant permission for wider and deeper reforms of the existing free trade zone in the GBA, to further eliminate institutional barriers and build a financial regulatory system that is in line with international practices," he said.

"This will not only promote the integration of financial markets and services in the GBA but also be conducive to achieving replicable institutional innovation results that can be propagated. In addition, it is helpful to improve China's new institutions of a higher-level open economy."

The government could take specific measures, such as implementing a "single pass system" so that financial institutions in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao need not apply for a license separately in each place to offer cross-border financial services, Wong said.

He also advised the local governments of the three areas to recognize each others' credit reports, allowing entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao who start their own business in the mainland to use their credit reports in their hometowns to apply for financial services at mainland financial institutions.

Guangzhou Port’s cargo throughput ranks 4th in the world

 Update:2021-03-08    Source: Newsgd.com

According to Nansha district’s report, the cargo throughput of Guangzhou Port reached 636 million tons in 2020, ranking it fourth in the world. And 490 million tons of the volume went to domestic trade, which makes it top in China.

Guangzhou Port has handled 3.01 billion tons of cargo from 2015 to 2020 and its container throughput reached 108 million twenty-foot equivalent (TEUs) during this period. Compared to 2011 to 2015 which is known as China’s twelfth five-year plan period, the growth rates are 25.8 percent and 36.7 percent respectively.

Guangzhou Port has opened 226 container routes. It is the biggest container port for domestic trade in China and an important port connecting with Africa, the Mediterranean and other Asian countries.

Guangzhou Port also adopted a new model to facilitate the freight transport among the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Now the model covers 10 ports of the Greater Bay Area including Zhongshan’s Xiaolan Port and Foshan Port.

Nansha district is also improving its service for cross border e-commerce. Its overall customs clearance time for import and export has been compressed to 14.85 hours and 1.7 hours respectively.

It’s expected that Guangzhou Port’s cargo throughput will reach 680 million tons and its container throughput will reach 28 million TEUs during the fourteenth five-year plan period (2021-2025). The Port also plans to increase its container routes to 260 during this period.

GZ airport ranked among world’s best for customer experience

 Update:2021-03-08    Source: Newsgd.com

Recently, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was recognized as one of the world’s best airports in terms of customer experience, according to the 2020 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey conducted by the Airport Council International (ACI).

[Photo: Nanfang Daily]

With a top-notch service and a throughput of over 40 million passengers per year, Baiyun airport successfully stands out among 348 airports worldwide going after the ASQ award. That speaks volumes for the airport’s commitment to continuously improving the passenger’s experience.

Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, the flight on-schedule rate of Guangzhou airport reached 91.57% in 2020, listed in the top 3 at home for three years in a row. And the flight punctuality rate also ranked among the top in China.

[Photo: Nanfang Daily]

The airport boasts the largest number of self-service facilities with the widest coverage to help passengers get their boarding pass and check in their luggage as fast and conveniently as they want. There are 263 self-service check-in machines, 102 for baggage drop, 199 for boarding and 75 exit and entry channels.

[Photo: Nanfang Daily]

[Photo: Nanfang Daily]

Last year, it first rolled out the ‘OneID’ service for which the passengers can get on board the plane just by scanning their face. Other high-tech additions such as LED screens and E-security check are also put in place to allow passengers to have a more pleasant journey.

The airport operation efficiency has been enhanced across the board after upgrading the A-CDM 4.0 system, overcoming the technological difficulties of the OMMS and ORMS systems and giving full play to the integrated function of the ACO platform.

[Photo: Nanfang Daily]

ACI's Airport Service Quality (ASQ) is a world-renowned and globally established global benchmarking program measuring passengers’ satisfaction whilst they are travelling through an airport.

The Airport Service Quality awards highlight the world’s best airports as judged by their customers and represents the highest possible accolades for airport operators.

Established in 1991, ACI is the only global trade representative of the world’s airports. It offers numerous training opportunities, a customer service benchmarking program, detailed industry statistical analyses and practical publications.

Guangzhou’s Nansha invests 626bn yuan to boost development

 Update:2021-03-10    Source: Newsgd.com

Nansha, a district located in the south of Guangzhou, invested in 202 projects to boost area development, according to Nansha Development and Reform Bureau on March 8.

These projects cover four major fields including infrastructure, modern industries, public service and urban regeneration. The annual investment and total investment are expected to exceed 92 billion yuan and 626 billion yuan respectively.

To improve the district’s business and living environment, Nansha invested in 59 infrastructure projects to optimize its transport networks, building more high-speed train lines, metro lines, expressways and bridges. The projects also include hospitals, public service centers, an international secondary school and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou).

In addition, the district highlighted 112 projects where it invested more than 175 billion yuan in total to boost the development of high-technologies, advanced manufacturing and financial services. These projects include the industrial base of CAS Space Exploration which features the functions of rocket research & development, manufacturing and testing. It’s anticipated that the base will be capable to produce 30 rockets per year once completed.

Infographics | Highlights of Guangzhou-Hong Kong Smart Manufacturing Cooperation Zone Implementation Plan

 Update:2021-03-11    Source: Newsgd.com

Guangdong has recently released the implementation plan for Guangzhou-Hong Kong Smart Manufacturing Cooperation Zone.

Covering a total area of 56.39 square kilometers, the zone will deepen industrial cooperation between Guangzhou Development District and Hong Kong while advancing the intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry.