Beijing will continue to be an attractive investment destination for foreign investors, as the city is at the forefront of technological innovation, has a sound business environment, and makes greater efforts in driving reform and opening-up, said executives at multinational companies, investors and government officials at the Zhongguancun Forum. They made the remarks at the 2023 Invest Beijing Global Summit – a major event of the Zhongguancun Forum – where domestic and foreign companies signed a cumulative CNY60.8 billion worth of investment deals, covering 39 projects in the city from top tech sectors including biotech, intelligent connected vehicles, and green energy as well as energy conservation and environmental protection.
“I am confident that Beijing, with its clear commitment to continuing with China’s reform and opening-up policy and constantly improving business environment, will remain an attractive choice for foreign investors,” said Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group, in a video message. Stating that he has lived in the city for years and has experienced first-hand its amazing and positive development. “I am a Beijinger. We are, in particular, happy to see that Beijing is making great efforts to position itself into a front-runner in this country in the area of the automotive industry, including autonomous driving,” Kallenius said. “Our joint venture in Beijing has become the largest production site of Mercedes-Benz in the world, and our investment over the years has not only covered the expansion of production but also enhancement in local research and development (R&D) and along the whole automotive value chain,” he added.
Carl-Alexander Scheef, Vice President of Bayer Healthcare China, said: “Beijing’s efforts in driving reform and opening-up and favorable policies have attracted Bayer to become one of the first multinationals to settle down in the city.” Local government officials have visited the German company’s factory in Beijing several times to better understand its development needs and the healthcare firm has also received speedy Customs clearances, he said, enabling Bayer to have full confidence in its future development in the city.
The Chinese capital has become a major hub for technological innovation in the country. According to a white paper by the Beijing Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the city was No 1 nationwide in the number of artificial intelligence companies, the number of published papers about AI, AI computing power and industrial ability in core areas. Of the world’s top 100 institutions in terms of the number of AI-related patents granted, 30 are headquartered in Beijing, the China Daily reports.
