2,400 foreign-funded firms set up in SZ in first 5 months

 More than 2,400 foreign-invested companies were set up in Shenzhen in the first five months this year, attracting more than US$12.4 billion of contractual foreign investment, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Wednesday, quoting the municipal commerce bureau.

The city’s actual use of foreign capital exceeded US$3.1 billion from January to May this year, an increase of 26 percent year on year.

The inflow of foreign investment in newly emerging industries has injected strong impetus into Shenzhen’s drive to build itself into an international innovation-based city and a global commercial and trade hub, the report said.

At Minzhi Subdistrict in Longhua District, work on the South China headquarters of U.S.-based global retailer giant Costco is making its headway, which will house its South China flagship store.

Nike also set up its global technology center in Shenzhen in the first half of the year.

In terms of investment structure, according to the bureau, the tertiary and high-tech industries have absorbed a large proportion of Shenzhen’s foreign direct investment over recent years.

Sectors of next-generation information technology, high-end manufacturing, new materials, biomedicine, finance, commodity circulation and digital economy are preferred by foreign investors.

Shenzhen is ramping up efforts to attract foreign investment by optimizing its business environment and rolling out incentives.

It has introduced a spate of measures to encourage multinational companies to establish regional headquarters and organizations with headquarters functions in the city.

The measures, which highlight a tiered reward system with a maximum reward of 6 million yuan (US$928,000), became effective March 1.

The city has also taken the country’s lead to establish work stations to better serve foreign-funded businesses.

So far, two city-level stations, two district-level stations in Longgang and Longhua districts, and 10 in key industrial parks across the city have been set up.

Foreign-funded enterprises account for only 2 percent of business entities in Shenzhen. However, they generate about one-fifth of the city’s GDP, 40 percent of its import and export volume, and nearly 30 percent of its tax revenue every year, 2020 data from the commerce bureau showed.

Workstations bring convenience to foreign-invested firms in city

 The Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau recently presented accomplishments of 14 workstations, which were set up to protect the rights and interests of the city’s foreign-invested enterprises.

The 14 workstations are nonprofit organizations co-founded by the bureau and two Shenzhen-based business associations. They comprise two workstations at the municipal level, two at the district level and 10 in key industrial parks, where many foreign-funded firms are concentrated.

Service specialists working in key industrial park workstations provide specific solutions to practical difficulties foreign enterprises encounter in production and operation. These workstations are responsible for the firms in the park, as well as the neighboring ones.

“The preferential policies, intellectual property regulations and labor dispute arbitration are top problems foreign-invested companies inquire about. We also help them in terms of a factory’s rent and relocation, visa issues of expat employees entering or leaving China amid the pandemic and so on,” Liu Jin, a staffer in charge of the two municipal-level workstations, told Shenzhen Daily.

Sui Xinyuan, a service specialist with the Shenzhen Bay Eco-Technology Park workstation in Nanshan District, recalled a case in which a foreign-funded digital medical enterprise learned about the city’s supporting policies when the workstation staffers visited the firm and introduced the latest policies to them. “The company applied for a subsidy and successfully received 2 million yuan (US$308,800),” Sui said.

Meanwhile, a total of 12 law and policy publicity conferences have been held for all companies with overseas capital in Shenzhen which tackled issues about firms’ concerns such as taxation, customs clearance, foreign exchange and foreign capital management. Over 1,200 enterprise representatives attended offline and more than 30,000 people watched online, according to data provided by the bureau.

In the past year, many foreign firms enjoyed the workstations’ support regarding work, production resumption and vaccinations. “A foreign firm found it difficult to get its employees the second (vaccine) dose. The local workstation made a group appointment and rented a bus to take staffers to a designated vaccination site,” said Liu. As of now, the workstations have assisted 54 enterprises in this regard.

The latest data shows that from January to May this year, Shenzhen set up over 2,400 foreign-funded enterprises, absorbing more than US$12.4 billion in foreign investment. The city’s actual use of foreign investment exceeded US$3.1 billion with a year-on-year growth of 26 percent, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

Tax subsidies for high-level overseas professionals in SZ

 High-level and badly needed professionals from overseas, including expats, working in Shenzhen can apply for the subsidies for their individual income tax for the year 2020 from Aug. 16 to Sept. 30.

The applicants should meet one of the following criteria: permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macao, mainland residents who have settled in Hong Kong and Macao without mainland household registrations, residents of Taiwan, foreign nationals, returned overseas students who have obtained long-term residency abroad, or overseas Chinese, according to a notice issued by authorities in Shenzhen recently.

Applicants are required to have signed a labor contract with a Shenzhen employer and have worked in Shenzhen for more than 90 days in 2020. They must have been selected into major talents projects, have been recognized as overseas high-level talents, have been holders of Guangdong talents cards, or have obtained permanent residency permits in China, work permits or high-end talent confirmation letters.

They should be research team members and management talents of major innovation platforms, middle-level managers or above, or team members undertaking major vertical research projects at or above the municipal level in universities, research institutes, hospitals and other related institutions, and leaders of key disciplines and key specialists at and above the municipal level.

They can also be managers, scientific research team members, core technology workers and outstanding young talents at headquarters companies, Fortune 500 companies and their branches and high-tech enterprises, large-scale core enterprises, listed companies and high-growth technological innovation-oriented enterprises.

According to the tax incentives, the applicant must pay the prescribed legal individual income taxes (IIT) in Shenzhen, with the IIT paid exceeding the tax amount computed at 15 percent of the talent’s taxable income.

The subsidy amount is calculated by the paid IIT in the tax year 2020 minus taxable income that multiplies 15 percent. The maximum individual income tax subsidy is 5 million yuan (US$771,177).

Qualified applicants or their employers can apply through http://tyrz.gd.gov.cn by Sept. 30 and the authorities will give out subsidies after qualification checks.

SZ attracts 229 Global 500 firms

 The Pearl River Delta region had attracted a total of 276 Fortune Global 500 enterprises for investment by the end of December 2020, among which 256 invested in Guangzhou and 229 invested in Shenzhen.

According to Fortune Global 500’s 2021 investment report in Guangdong released Tuesday, 350 Fortune Global 500 enterprises have invested in 2,416 enterprises in Guangdong Province, with accumulative registered capital scale at US$180.7 billion. Among the enterprises, 93 percent are located in the Pearl River Delta area and 67.5 percent, or 1,632, are located in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The investments of Fortune Global 500 enterprises in Guangdong ranked third in China, following Beijing and Shanghai.

In terms of overseas investments by Fortune Global 500 firms, 83.6 percent came from Asia, with Hong Kong taking up 60 percent followed by Singapore at 32 percent during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the report showed.

In the secondary industry, overseas investments by Fortune Global 500 firms in Guangdong mainly focus on energy manufacturing and supply, with registered capital of US$13.88 billion, taking up 97.8 percent of the industry’s total registered capital by these firms.

In the tertiary industry, investments by these firms are mainly in business services, whose combined registered capitals reached US$6.96 billion, taking up over 50 percent of their total registered capital invested in the tertiary industory.

SZ launches one-stop foreign investment online service

 Shenzhen's commerce bureau officially launched its Foreign Investment Service Zone on the “Shen i Qi” website (www.szsiq.com) Monday.

The one-stop online service aims to meet foreign-invested enterprises’ needs in business operations and further enhance the rule of law, internationalization and foreign investment facilitation in Shenzhen, bureau officials said.

The service zone features three main sections, namely business operation, investment and taxation, and information submission.

Business operation services cover corporate establishment, alteration, cancellation, social security and housing allowance registration. Investment and taxation services cover bank account opening appointment, foreign currency registration appointment, visa processing, real-name taxation certification and invoice application. The information submission section features information report modification and annual report filings by foreign-invested corporations and foreign representative offices.

The launch of the online service is part of the city’s slew of measures to attract foreign capital.

Fair brings together world’s most inventive design resources

 Themed “New Habitats: Design is the New Discipline,” the ninth Shenzhen International Industrial Design Fair (SZIDF) kicked off at Hall 2 of Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Futian District yesterday.

The three-day online and offline fair aims to showcase excellent global industrial design, explore various possibilities for design-driven industrial upgrading, and utilize industrial design’s leading role in industrial development.

Uwe Cremering, CEO of iF International Design GmbH, which organizes the iF Design Award, one of the world’s most prestigious design competitions, delivered a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony.

“In recent years, we’ve seen SZIDF becoming a milestone in Shenzhen design and one of the most influential design events in the world,” Cremering said.

According to Cremering, Shenzhen has a solid industrial foundation for design. It allows international talents to demonstrate their abilities while also promoting the integration of Shenzhen’s innovative design with emerging industries.

“The introduction of international design resources promotes Shenzhen design and manufacturing to establish cooperative relations with international design masters and institutions, enhancing the design innovation and international competitiveness of Shenzhen and China,” he said.

In 2021, the total number of iF Design Award winners in China is 1,218, with 398 from Shenzhen. The city has ranked first in China for 10 consecutive years, according to Cremering.

“We think that from this fair, we have a better understanding and dialogue with Chinese companies to understand what they really need, so that we can link our resources to the needs of Chinese companies,” Jorg van den Hoven, president of China Europe Branding Association, said.

The Great One Award awards ceremony, one of the fair’s most anticipated events, also took place yesterday. Coal mining solutions developed by the User-centered Design department of Huawei took home the top honor.

This year’s fair includes more than 6,000 high-quality ideas from all over the world, covering over 10 categories such as intelligent robots, new energy and autonomous autos, smart home appliances, cultural innovation, smart health, and beauty and personal care items.

A total of 312 domestic and international exhibitors are participating in the fair, including seven specially invited overseas exhibition groups from the Netherlands, Denmark and other nations and regions.

SZ to offer subsidies to stimulate marine economy development

 Enterprises, research institutes and higher learning institutions applying their products and services in the marine sector or applying their marine research achievements in non-marine sectors can expect to receive subsidies from the Shenzhen government, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

The subsidies will amount to 20 percent of the price stated in their procurement or technological service contracts, and capped at 10 million yuan (US$1.58 million), according to a recently released draft plan by Shenzhen’s planning and natural resources bureau.

This is one of the 12 measures mulled by the city to encourage high-quality development of the marine economy. The plan supports marine enterprises to set up research institutes or invest in industrial projects, and support research institutes or higher learning institutions to set up branches in Shenzhen.

The city will offer rewards to marine projects supported by national- or provincial-level special funds equivalent to 50 percent of its self-financing funds and the subsidy will be capped at 10 million yuan. The combined fund awarded by the national, provincial and municipal authorities will not exceed 50 percent of the total investment of a project.

Newly registered marine enterprises will be rewarded an amount equivalent to 50 percent of their local revenue contribution within three years after registration, with a cap at 1.5 million yuan.

High-growth marine enterprises whose average revenue or net profit growth rate over the last two years is not less than 10 percent will be rewarded an amount equivalent to 40 percent of their local revenue contribution, with a cap at 1 million yuan, according to the measures.

The government will also support new product testing by offering subsides equivalent to 50 percent of the total expenditures, with a cap of 1 million yuan.