SZ to open its door wider to investors

 China will announce special measures this year for Shenzhen and Hainan to provide a broader market for investors, an official said yesterday.

Zhao Chenxin, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning body, said at a press conference in Beijing that China will revise and roll out its 2021 version of the negative list for market access, allowing investors to have wider access in a number of key areas in the two places.

The measures aim to break local protectionism and regional market segmentation so as to build a higher level of openness and attract more foreign investment, he said.

Meanwhile, the country will proceed with the implementation of the new comprehensive pilot reform plan in Shenzhen to build the city into a demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and of the ensuing 40 authorized measures to facilitate the pilot reforms, Zhao said.

The comprehensive reform plan, a five-year program for Shenzhen’s next-stage reform and opening up unveiled by the Central Government last October, will increase market access for foreign investors, introduce legal and financial reform measures, and implement specific business-friendly policies. It is part of the country’s drive to push high-quality development of the special economic zone and create a model city for a great modern socialist country.

The plan gives Shenzhen authorities a more direct and greater say in businesses, such as carrying out market-based economic reform, improving market and legal environments for global businesses, and improving the ecological environment and urban space.

One week later that month, the country announced 40 detailed measures to be implemented in Shenzhen, such as promoting the reform of the registration-based IPO system in the city’s startup board ChiNext

200m TEUs:Yantian Port reaches new milestone

 Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) handled its 200 millionth TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) on Feb. 1, a new milestone that was achieved in only eight years from the 100 millionth TEU.

It took about 18 and a half years for YICT to achieve its first milestone of 100 million TEUs in 2013, following its 2007 performance when it became the world’s first container terminal to reach an annual throughput exceeding 10 million TEUs.

A celebration ceremony held Monday to mark the achievement also witnessed the launch of the preferred port for cross-border e-commerce businesses in South China, a project aimed at attracting more e-commerce businesses to Yantian.

As a marine transport hub in Guangdong-Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area, YICT plays a vital role by carrying out one-third of Guangdong’s foreign trade and one quarter of China’s foreign trade with the U.S.

As proposed at the recently concluded Sixth Congress of the Fifth Yantian District CPC Committee, the district will speed up building the eastern port area of Yantian Port into a new-generation automated intelligent port, put emphasis on the development of cross-border e-commerce business and bonded logistics, promote the exhibition and trade of bonded products and attract more high-quality enterprises to participate in the construction of the port economic belt.

With its geographical advantages, natural deep-water berths, state-of-the-art terminal facilities, efficient clearance procedures and comprehensive transportation network, YICT has become the preferred port of call for mega-vessels. As of now, Yantian Port can accommodate five 400-meter-long container ships, each at 200,000 tons, simultaneously.

Currently, it serves about 100 ships every week from over 40 well-known international shipping companies, 60 percent of which operate European and American routes.

In 2020, despite the pandemic, its throughput reached 13.34 million TEUs, up by 2.1 percent over 2019. It was awarded Shenzhen Mayor Quality Award for the year 2020.

YICT’s container throughput exceeded 1.46 million TEUs in September, breaking the global monthly record for a single terminal run by one port operator, following the record of 1.42 million TEUs in August.

Pingshan High-tech Zone aims for global status

 Shenzhen will provide all the necessary assistance to help Pingshan High-tech Zone to attain world-class status, city officials said at a press conference at the Civic Center in Futian CBD yesterday.

While clarifying the city government’s vision for the high-tech zone in Pingshan District, the officials from relevant government departments also pointed out bottleneck problems that are hindering the high-quality development of Shenzhen High-tech Zone. City officials hope that Pingshan High-tech Zone will play its part to help alleviate these problems that are related to industrial layout, supplementary services and city-industry integration, DT News reported.

Pingshan High-tech Zone, which aims to become globally competitive, will have four industries as its backbone: integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing industry, biomedical industry, intelligent connected vehicle industry and new-energy industry, Tao Yongxin, Pingshan’s Party chief, said yesterday.

Pingshan High-tech Zone, officially unveiled in 2019, is located in eastern Shenzhen and covers an area of 51.6 square kilometers, six times the size of its Nanshan District counterpart.

In the integrated circuit manufacturing field, Pingshan attracted Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China’s largest semiconductor foundry company, to construct the first 8-inch integrated circuit (IC) production line in South China in 2014, and the first 12-inch line in 2016. SMIC will continue to expand IC production and investment in Pingshan High-tech Zone with upcoming preferential policies and governmental financial support.

BYD, China’s new-energy vehicle manufacturing giant with its headquarters in Pingshan, is about to launch an IC and power semiconductor project in the high-tech zone.

“To achieve the goal of making semiconductor chips by China itself, the city government will strongly support Pingshan High-tech Zone as a core industrial zone of IC in Shenzhen,” said Chen Huaping, deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Industry and Information Bureau.

Pingshan Hi-tech Zone also plays a significant role in the development of the city’s biomedical industry. It has introduced the Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences, in which a hospital and a biomedical industrial park with international standards is under first-phase construction.

Pingshan will be “a core engine of the biomedical industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,” according to Zeng Jianpeng, deputy head of the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

In a bid to boost the intelligent connected vehicle industry, the high-tech zone has set up the city’s only smart networked transportation test demonstration platform, where driverless bus and unmanned delivery will be developed and promoted.

Pingshan High-tech Zone is attempting to attract enterprises, institutions and talents from all over the world with its rich land resources, low cost of production and living, comprehensive supporting facilities and livable ecological environment, according to Tao.

At present, Pingshan High-tech Zone possesses the most extensive industrial space in the city. Five projected industrial parks, such as the new-generation information technology park and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong biomedical park, will provide industrial areas of 4 million square meters in 2022.

Tao pledged that projects meeting requirements can enjoy a fixed rental for five years, and high-quality ones will be exempt from 100 percent of their rent.

Qiu Xuan, Party chief of the Shenzhen Municipal Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, also presented the achievements of Shenzhen High-tech Zone at the press conference.

The zone was established in December 1996 with the approval of the State Council. The number of its industrial parks has increased from one to five over the past decades. “These five parks covering 8 percent of the city’s land produced approximately 25.5 percent of the city’s GDP,” said Qiu.

City releases regulation to boost foreign investment

 Shenzhen is mulling to build a mechanism for urgently needed talent, according to a draft foreign investment regulation recently released by the Municipal Justice Bureau for public opinion.

The regulation also said that Shenzhen will streamline procedures for foreign talents to live and work in Shenzhen and issue measures like faster entry in the country to support foreign-funded enterprises. These will make the city more attractive to these talents.

To boost foreign investment, Shenzhen will update plans based on its own situations and let foreign companies enjoy the same support policies designed for local companies.

At the same time, Shenzhen will promote the building of foreign-related public legal service system.

The regulation includes a total of five chapters, with contents concerning investment promotion, protection and management.

City offers support to qualified hi-tech firms

 A total of 1,175 enterprises have been selected into a High-tech Enterprise Incubator program and will receive subsidy and policy support, according to a list published by the Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Commission on Monday.

The enterprises under the program will receive 10 percent of their actual expenses in research and development from the previous year. The subsidy for a single enterprise is capped at 3 million yuan (US$460,700). The enterprises will be delisted from the incubator after being accredited as high-tech enterprises within the three-year incubation period.

The enterprises on the incubation list include Shenzhen Yuhong Precision Mould Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Fortress Information Service Co. Ltd., whose products have shown great market potential.

Another enterprise, Shenzhen Hongjin Technology Co. Ltd., established in 2014, is an innovation-based high-tech company which provides adhesives to users, including OPPO, VIVO, Huawei, Mi, One Plus and Foxconn.

Meanwhile, Shenzhen Ascentawits Pharmaceuticals Ltd., which moved to Shenzhen in 2017, engages in research on anti-cancer drugs. The company has developed small-molecule anti-cancer pre-drug compounds. The compounds are now about to undergo clinical research.

In recent years, Shenzhen has supported the development of high-tech enterprises through multiple channels, including research subsidies of no more than 10 million yuan.

Shenzhen is home to more than 50,000 high-tech enterprises, including 18,650 State-level high-tech enterprises. The output of Shenzhen’s high-tech industry in 2020 was 2.78 trillion yuan, up by 2.7 percent over the previous year. 

The added value was 974.7 billion yuan, up by 2.4 percent over 2019.

SZ appealing to foreign investors

 Shenzhen has long been an apple of foreign investors’ eyes. The city’s 2020 actual use of foreign capital of over US$8.68 billion hit a record high, city officials disclosed at a ceremony marking the launch of the Foreign Investment Service Year on Friday.

Apple Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Airbus SE and other well-known international companies have announced or inaugurated their large-scale projects in Shenzhen, the officials said.

The latest data shows from January to February 2021, the city’s actual use of foreign investment was US$940 million, an increase of 17.8 percent year on year.

Shenzhen will further optimize the city’s foreign-invested business environment, officials said Friday.

The government-provided services will include policy publicity conferences, investment promotion panels, and visits to foreign businesses in Shenzhen to solve their practical problems.

Measures will be taken to encourage multinational companies (MNCs) to establish regional headquarters in Shenzhen. MNCs registering US$20-30 million, US$30-50 million and above US$50 million in actual annual use of foreign capital will be rewarded 3 million yuan (US$458,999), 5 million yuan and 6 million yuan, respectivel

City offers rewards for actual foreign investment utilization

 Foreign-funded enterprises can now apply for rewards for actual utilization of new investments involving more than US$30 million in 2020, sources from the Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau showed.

The deadline for the application is May 10.

According to relevant regulations, for new projects involving more than US$50 million and newly added investment involving US$30 million in 2020, authorities will offer rewards at the standard of 2 percent of the actually utilized annual investment, or at a maximum of 100 million yuan (US$15 million).

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s actual foreign investment utilization was US$8.68 billion last year, up by 11 percent over the previous year. Between January and February this year, the actual foreign investment utilization was US$940 million, up by 17.8 percent, statistics showed.

To encourage foreign multinationals to operate in Shenzhen, the city will reward between 3 and 5 million yuan to companies that set up headquarters in Shenzhen with investments between US$20 million and US$50 million. For investments of more than US$50 million, the reward will be 6 million yuan.

The Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau will accept the second round of applications in October.