SZ a ‘springboard for mainland, intl. markets’

 Shenzhen not only serves as a springboard for entering the mainland market but also for the international market, Li Dawei, director of Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab, said while addressing the Cross-Strait Young Maker Forum held at Sino-Finnish Design Park on Friday afternoon.

A Taiwan maker who has been working in Shenzhen for many years, Li cited many real-life examples of how Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs successfully developed their businesses in African countries by learning from the successful models of Shenzhen. He illustrated his point of view: “Nowadays, people overseas don’t want to copy a Silicon Valley, they want to copy a Shenzhen.”

“Why do I cite so many stories about Africa? Especially for startups from Taiwan, when you are considering the Chinese mainland, it’s not only about the mainland market, it’s actually a springboard for entering the international market. Going global from Shenzhen, from the mainland, enjoys many advantages: The mainland’s industrial base, the open and innovative supply chain... these have already brought many opportunities for young startups,” said Li.

Zhang Jiuzhou, co-founder of XIVO DESIGN, shared how their company stands out in the market via innovation and observation of the trend and lifestyle of young people. The company is helping an increasing number of maker teams to gain market share and succeed through their unique designs.

Shirley Feng, president of the Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association (SIDA) and founder of Sino-Finnish Design Park, said she was deeply impressed with the valuable experiences from the development miracles of the special economic zones (SEZs) including Shenzhen, which was identified by President Xi Jinping during a speech Oct. 14 at a gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen SEZ.

“Sino-Finnish Design Park is creating better platforms for communication and services for cross-Straits young makers,” said Yang Li, vice director of Shenzhen’s Taiwan affairs office, who added that the upgrading and transformation of enterprises and cities requires innovation and entrepreneurship.

Friday’s forum was jointly organized by the city’s development and reform commission, science, technology and innovation commission and Taiwan affairs office

SZ invites global investors

 Shenzhen has been prodding foreign investors to invest in the city, announcing the Second Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference will be held at the main venue of Wuzhou Guest House in Futian District on Dec. 8 and eight subvenues overseas.

The remarks were made by Wang Youming, director of the commerce bureau, at a news conference held by the Shenzhen Municipal Government Information Office at the Civic Center in Futian yesterday.

The eight subvenues will be in New York in the U.S., Panama City in Panama, London in the U.K., Nuremburg in Germany, Johannesburg in South Africa, Tokyo in Japan, Sydney in Australia and Singapore, as per the conference.

“Representatives from more than 300 firms and institutions, including 65 global top 500 enterprises and 21 China’s top 500 enterprises, will participate in the event. In addition, 140 foreign-funded enterprises have confirmed to participate. Among them, 57 are foreign nationals and 18 of them are chairpersons of their companies. They have long been living in China,” said Wang.

The firms mainly engage in industries of new-generation technologies, high-end manufacturing, new materials, biopharmacy, finance, trade and digital economy.

Due to the pandemic, some executives of multinationals, such as Airbus, IBM, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), ABB Group and Prudential Financial, will participate in the conference via video links.

Shenzhen held the first global investment promotion conference last December, attracting 600 guests, including officials from Chinese ministries, consular representatives in China, officials from Shenzhen’s international friendship cities, top technology companies and well-known investment institutions. That conference witnessed 128 projects signed with a total investment of 560 billion yuan (US$80 billion).

The conference also introduced Shenzhen’s 30-square-kilometer land lots that were seeking global investors for industrial development, and corresponding supporting policies.

“In the past year, we have flattened the land and adjusted plans to ensure land supplies to the enterprises. So far, 22 square kilometers of land have been made ready for use,” Wang Cefei, deputy chief of the city’s planning and natural resources bureau, said at yesterday’s conference.

The actual utilized foreign investment of Shenzhen was US$7 billion in the first 10 months this year, making up 6.1 percent of China’s total and an increase of 7.5 percent year on year, according to the conference.

Tax subsidy benefits high-end professionals

 Over 3,100 high-end professionals from overseas who work in Shenzhen have applied for a subsidy for the individual income tax that was implemented in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by the Central agencies.

Since the rule was implemented in Shenzhen in August, the city has worked out detailed plans and more than 3,000 overseas professionals had applied by the Sept. 15 deadline, Gu Yunhong, deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, said at a press conference yesterday.

The “professionals” refer to permanent residency holders in Hong Kong and Macao, or mainland people who have received permanent residency permits through talent programs in Hong Kong and Macao and have had their mainland hukou canceled, Taiwan residents and foreign nationals whose taxable income have reached a specified limit, and returned professionals from overseas who have obtained a permanent residency permit overseas.

They can apply for the subsidies as long as they have worked in Shenzhen for more than 90 days and have paid taxes according to the law if they meet one of the following criteria:

1. They have been selected into the talent programs of national, provincial and municipal levels, obtained category A or category B work permits, Guangdong talent cards, or high-end professional certificates.

2. They are managerial talent at or above the middle level of a company or a member of a research team engaging in national, provincial or municipal-level major innovation platforms.

3. They are members of research teams in higher learning institutions, research institutes or hospitals, or members of research teams that carry out key research tasks above the municipal level.

4. They are talented staff members working at high-tech companies, major enterprises, listed companies or headquarters companies that have been accredited by the Shenzhen government, or in key industries or key areas of the city.

The subsidy standard is based on the tax discrepancies of tax bases between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, according to Gu.

Gu cited an example. If an executive needs to pay 250,000 yuan (US$37,925) in taxes in Shenzhen for his 1 million yuan income as compared to 150,000 yuan in taxes in Hong Kong for the same income, Shenzhen will offer a 100,000-yuan subsidy in taxes for the discrepancy.

“This subsidy policy has received a warm response from professionals and employers as well because it lowers costs and builds up the competitiveness of enterprises and reduces the tax burden for professionals,” said Gu.

SZ takes No. 3 in sustainable development

 Shenzhen takes third place in sustainable development of 2019 among 100 Chinese cities, according to a report released in Beijing on Tuesday.

Zhuhai and Beijing took the first two places, the report jointly made by China Center for International Economic Exchanges, Columbia University, AliResearch and Social Science Academic Press showed.

The other cities in the top 10 are Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Wuxi, Nanjing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

The report surveyed 100 cities and showed China improved its sustainability while keeping its economic stability.

The Chinese cities are gradually becoming more sustainable, especially in social and economic aspects. Between 2016 and 2018, the indexes of the country’s economic growth increased 12 percent on average, showing recovery of economic driving power after upgrading and improving economic structure and growth.

In the subcategories, Shenzhen took second place, following Beijing, in quality economic development, energy saving and emission reduction.

The coastal provinces and municipalities took the lead positions compared to the central and western regions of the country. Among the top 10 provinces and municipalities, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin showed remarkable achievements in economic development, environment treatment, social livelihood and emission reduction. Anhui in central China and Chongqing in western China took the No. 6 and No. 8 positions, respectively, in the ranking for sustainability.

Considering the pandemic and reviewing the U.N. Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030, the report suggested China form its own dual circulation development pattern, sticking to the philosophy of green development and high-quality development driven by innovation and led by technology, and eliminating institutional barriers through supply-side structural reform.

SZ takes 1st place in business environment

 Shenzhen takes first place in the business environment of major Chinese cities, a report jointly released Monday by the Academy of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Studies and the 21st Economic Research Institute showed.

The report surveyed the business environment of 296 cities of prefecture level and above. Shenzhen takes first place and is followed by Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Changsha and Wuhan also entered the top 10 list of cities in the business environment ranking.

The report surveyed the business environment from six aspects: soft environment, basic facilities, social services, market capacity, business costs and ecological environment. The soft environment weighed 25 percent of the total scores, while market capacity and ecological environment made up 20 percent each. Basic facilities accounted for 15 percent, while social services and business costs evenly divided the remaining 20 percent.

First-tier cities each had their own unique advantages in many indexes. Shenzhen has been ranked a top city in number of market entities and the average market entities for every 10,000 people for many years.

The number of PCT applications (applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty) and listed companies based in Shenzhen also ranked first among Chinese cities. It took second place in the increased number of permanent residents in 2019, the average number of patent licensing for every 10,000 people and per capita GDP.

Based on the indexes, Shenzhen took first place in soft environment and third place in number of market entities and social services.

The average number of market entities and enterprises for every 1,000 people was the major index for judging the vitality of entrepreneurship.

Shenzhen had reached the index of 250 market entities for every 1,000 residents and 150 enterprises for every 1,000 residents, taking first place among Chinese cities. Shenzhen is now home to 3 million m

SZ ranks 1st in innovation and entrepreneurship index

 Shenzhen has retained the top spot for the third straight year in the entrepreneurship and innovation index with a score of 88.16 out of 100, according to a report led by a top expert from the State Council.

Shenzhen attaches great importance to the overall improvement of the innovation and entrepreneurship environment, boasts the broadest range of entrepreneurship and innovation resources, and finds the perfect balance between the value of entrepreneurship, innovation and social cost, the report released Wednesday said.

In terms of environmental support, which is a subindicator of the index, Shenzhen ranked second only to Shanghai.

According to the report, Shenzhen has continued to improve the efficiency and quality of government services through the construction of smart city and digital government. In terms of industrial foundation, the strategic emerging industries in Shenzhen are developing rapidly, with the global competitiveness of high-tech products constantly improving.

Shenzhen has introduced very attractive policies for talent introduction, the report said. The proportion of employees in the knowledge-intensive service industry in the city is second only to Shanghai (20.59 percent) and levels with Beijing (16.97 percent), ranking third of nine major Chinese cities.

Tao Yitao, a professor with Shenzhen University and a research member of the report, said Shenzhen has continuously promoted the sustainable development of mass entrepreneurship and innovation through better employment, high-quality patents and lower energy consumption.

The added value of Shenzhen’s high-tech industry accounted for 34.28 percent of the city’s GDP, the report showed.

Shenzhen has also surpassed Beijing to become the city with most active innovation pursuits. In 2019, the number of patents granted in Shenzhen exceeded 1.66 million, accounting for 6.73 percent of the total number of patents granted in China.

Meanwhile, the young metropolis in South China continued to rank first in government efficiency index, exceeding the runner-up by 63 percentage points, according to the report.

Rules effective to optimize business environment

 The city’s recently enacted regulations on optimizing the business environment will become effective Jan. 1, 2021, according to a press conference held by the Information Office of Shenzhen Municipal Government at the Civic Center in Futian District on Friday.

The promulgation of the regulations indicates that Shenzhen will strive to create a world-class business environment with greater determination, courage and reform at a higher level of the rule of law.

Guo Yuehua, deputy director of the city’s development and reform commission, said at the conference that the regulations will serve as the legal standing for the government and public service departments to perform their duties, as well as for market entities to enjoy a quality business environment and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The new set of regulations is comprised of nine chapters and 130 clauses in six areas, which include focusing on the key links in the life cycle of market entities, providing efficient and convenient government services, creating a level playing field for businesses, innovating modes of financing, improving the efficiency of supervision and law enforcement, and improving the rights and interests protection mechanism, Guo introduced.

A number of innovative reforms have been put forward in the regulations. Under the new rules, overseas professional institutions and talented people are allowed to provide professional services in Shenzhen.

The city will implement the administrative confirmation system of business registration, facilitate the handling of enterprise-related certificates, and explore the establishment of bankruptcy reorganization identification and bankruptcy pre-reorganization mechanism.

The regulations stipulate that government departments shall not implement measures, including discriminatory industry access, qualification standards, industry promotion, government procurement and public services.

According to Li Jun, deputy head of the city’s market supervision and regulation bureau, Shenzhen has also taken the lead in China in setting up a delisting system and a deregistration system, which will be formally implemented March 1, 2021.

The regulations specifically stipulate the application and operation rules of the government service notification and commitment system and the handling of situations when certain materials for approval are in shortage, said Xu Kaijun, deputy head of the city’s government services data bureau.

Shenzhen will also take the lead in the country in bringing a flexible employment mode into creating a better business environment, and require human resource departments to strengthen service guidance and carry out shared labor, according to the new rules.