With the theme “Investing in Guangzhou is investing in the future”, the ninth China Guangzhou Investment Annual Conference was held, featuring a plenary forum, 18 parallel sessions and eight external sessions. Centering on the development trends of intelligent manufacturing, new generation information technology, biopharmaceuticals, new energy and other cutting-edge industries, participants compared notes on digitalization, ecosystem protection and internationalization. According to Luo Zheng, Deputy Director General of Guangzhou’s Commerce Bureau, this year’s two-day conference took place simultaneously with the 133rd China Import and Export Fair, which is known as the Canton Fair, to attract the Fair's participants to the conference to give them a better understanding of Guangzhou’s business environment, industrial development and investment orientation. This year’s event was for the first time jointly organized with Forbes China. More than 1,000 venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, experts, scholars, business association representatives, and consular officials shared resources on site.
The conference discussed the 2022 Forbes China Venture Capital 100 in a bid to explore global economic and technological development trends. The effects of innovation on future economic and social development were also discussed, as well as new ideas and visions for Guangzhou’s high-quality development. Following 2022’s partnership with the Hurun Report to hold the first Global Unicorn CEO Conference, the two teamed up again to publish the 2023 Global Unicorn List at a parallel session.
Prior to the conference, organizers held eight sessions outside the Chinese mainland, with the first event launched in Hong Kong on March 1, followed by events in Berlin; Tel Aviv; Macao; Singapore; Frankfurt; Silicon Valley and Tokyo. In 2022, investment contracts for a total of 355 major projects from more than 20 countries and regions were signed during the event, with a total contractual investment of CNY880 billion. Data from Guangzhou’s Commerce Bureau showed that in 2022, Guangzhou signed investment contracts for 1,565 projects, up 35.3% from 2021. The number of newly registered projects was 1,767 in 2022, up 39.5% year-on-year.
In 2022, Guangzhou used CNY57.4 billion in foreign investment, up 5.7% from 2021. A total of 335 Global Fortune 500 companies had invested in 1,658 projects in Guangzhou by the end of 2022. With a permanent resident population of more than 18 million plus a floating population exceeding 4 million, Guangzhou’s GDP reached CNY2.88 trillion in 2022, the China Daily reports.
