Foreign-invested enterprises awarded

01 11, 2021

The 2019/2020 Annual Awards for China's Outstanding Foreign-invested Enterprises in Shenzhen were unveiled Jan. 8, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported over the weekend.The annual awards with a history of 31 years, sponsored by the Shenzhen Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (SZAEFI), are recognized as a valuable guide for foreign investors.The 2019/2020 Annual Awards have listed Shenzhen's top 10 foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) leading by revenue of 2019, top 10 tax-paying FIEs of 2019, and 163 FIEs that perform excellently in both revenue and tax paying. The 2020 Awards of Harmonious Labor Relations were given to 89 FIEs, 2020 Awards of Quality Progress to 73, 2020 Awards of Safety and Environmental Protection to 70.Morea Marco, general manager of Unipoint Inc., told Shenzhen Economic Daily, "This award is a high recognition of Unipoint Inc. of Bosch Group, showing that we are on the right track leading to the right goals."Despite the pandemic in 2020, the growth of foreign investment in Shenzhen was still higher than the national average. The data show that in the first 10 months of 2020, China's actual utilization of foreign capital was US$115.09 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent year on year. During the same period, Shenzhen's actual utilization of foreign capital was US$7.055 billion, accounting for 6.13 percent of the country's total and an increase of 7.58 percent year on year, which is much higher than the national average.Hirokazu Sasahara, managing director of Shenzhen Murata Technology Co. Ltd., one of the top 10 FIEs leading by revenue of 2019, said, "The accelerating development of 5G applications in Shenzhen has given us great opportunities. The group aims at increasing production of 5G products in Shenzhen. With the effective COVID-19 control and better social environment in China, we are very confident in the market and our operations in Shenzhen."Since its foundation in 1989, SZAEFI has played an important role in promoting foreign investment in China, guiding the development of member enterprises, encouraging them to fulfill their social responsibilities and further improving the business environment.Guo Xiaohui, executive chairman of SZAEFI, said, "The high-quality development of enterprises and the economy depends on the high-quality associations. An association should help a group of enterprises grow, which will then bring along the development of the industry."

SZ ranks 1st in innovation and entrepreneurship index

12 25, 2020

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.

SZ takes 1st place in business environment

12 25, 2020

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 market entities and 2 million different types of companies.

5G research to be subsidized up to ¥300m

12 24, 2020

Several measures on vigorously promoting the development of 5G innovation applications were released by the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission at an award ceremony of the Global 5G Application Competition 2020 at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Nanshan District on Tuesday.In terms of 5G application scenarios, the measures will encourage the integration of 5G with vertical industries. The policy supports mainly go toward application of 5G technology in scenarios, such as industrial Internet, connected vehicle, ultra HD video and driverless vehicle systems. A subsidy of up to 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million) will be awarded to the benchmark projects each year.In the area of core technology research, wireless technology, network and service, key components, and testing and instrumentation are key parts of the application of 5G in vertical industries. The projects will receive subsidies up to 40 percent of the total investment. The top grant is 300 million yuan.In the field of innovation carriers, engineering research centers and enterprise technology centers will receive a maximum of 10 million yuan. 5G-related application projects will enjoy priority to apply for national major project support programs. National key laboratories, national engineering research centers and other national innovation carriers will be awarded a maximum of 30 million yuan.The industrialization of 5G core products, such as industrial CPE (customer premise equipment), drones, robots, cameras, law enforcement instruments, media backpacks, alarms and laser projection, will be given a maximum of 15 million yuan in subsidy.The measures also encourage 5G industry terminal enterprises to issue coupons to consumers who purchase 5G networked drones, 5G laser projection, 5G+8K TVs, 5G cameras and other products.

SZ sees more firms in emerging industries

12 16, 2020

The number of newly registered companies in Shenzhen in strategic emerging fields witnessed a year-on-year growth of 11.3 percent to reach 2,683 in October this year, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Enterprise Registration Bureau.The newly registered businesses are from the city's seven strategic emerging industries, namely new-generation information technology, digital economy, high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, new materials, green and low-carbon technology, and marine economy.Ma Chunhui, associate professor with the School of Media and Communication of Shenzhen University, said the rapid growth in the number of new business entities in the city's strategic emerging industries showed that Shenzhen's economic development has entered a new stage.The new stage features accelerated innovation in emerging industries, relative advantages of the high-end manufacturing sector, the backing of the capital market to drive the seven strategic emerging industries and the government’s sustained policy support, according to Ma.In October, Shenzhen recorded a total of 44,407 newly registered business entities, including 28,332 enterprises and 16,075 privately owned small businesses. By the end of October, there were some 3.51 million business entities in the city.The new enterprises are mainly located in Bao'an, Longgang, Nanshan, Futian and Longhua districts, accounting for 86 percent of the city's total newly registered companies.The newly registered business entities in October are mainly from the tertiary industries such as wholesale and retail businesses, catering and accommodation, leasing and commercial service, information transmission, software and information technology service.Since the beginning of this year, the dissolution of enterprises in Shenzhen has decreased significantly compared with last year. The city saw no mass dissolution of enterprises due to the pandemic.According to data from the city's enterprise registration bureau, 14,750 business entities were dissolved in Shenzhen in October this year, a drop of 25.1 percent and 28.6 percent on a yearly basis and a monthly basis, respectively.

4 districts rank among top 10 for investment potential

12 08, 2020

Four districts in Shenzhen, namely Longgang, Bao'an, Nanshan and Futian, have been listed among the 10 regions with the biggest investment potentials, according to a list of the Top 100 Regions for Investment in China released by Hurun Research Institute on Sunday.Pudong New Area in Shanghai, Chaoyang, Haidian and Xicheng districts in Beijing, as well as Tianhe and Huangpu districts in Guangzhou are the other regions on the top 10 list.The list chose 570 regions across the country based on the 19+2 city cluster plans that were put forward by the Central Government in its 13th Five-Year Program. The evaluation on the regions included economic strength, population, education and medical care, environment and habitat, featured culture and technology innovation.The list shows the top 100 regions are distributed across 33 cities. A total of 42 regions are in the Yangtze Delta River city cluster and 12 in the Pearl River Delta city cluster.The Pearl River Delta city cluster is one of the most economically dynamic areas in the Asia-Pacific region. Leveraging on its geographic advantage of bordering with Hong Kong and Macao and favorable conditions like compatriots who can be found in every corner of the world, the export-oriented economy in the Pearl River Delta region developed very fast. The area will be a center for science and industry innovation, service base for advanced manufacturing and modern service in the future.In addition, the Hurun Research Institute also selected the top 10 regions with great development potentials from five perspectives, which include economics, population, greenery, scientific innovation and cultural development. In the category of economic development, Nanshan, Longgang and Futian entered the top 10. In population development, Bao'an and Longgang took the first two places. In scientific innovation development, Longgang and Nanshan entered the top 10. In cultural development, Longgang and Bao'an entered the top 10.

City sees 3,000 foreign firms registered in past 9 months

11 26, 2020

Shenzhen has presented a stellar performance in attracting foreign capital in the first three quarters of this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as more than 3,000 new foreign-invested enterprises have been set up in the city during the Jan.-Sept. period, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.Statistics from the Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau show that 3,069 foreign-invested enterprises were set up in Shenzhen from January to September in 2020, attracting US$15.34 billion of contracted foreign investment, a year-on-year increase of 5.86 percent. The actualized use of foreign investment reached US$6.27 billion, up 7.66 percent on a yearly basis.As of September this year, Shenzhen had approved 95,626 foreign direct investment projects, absorbing US$303.76 billion of contracted foreign investment. Paid-in foreign investment amounted to US$119.75 billion."In recent years, foreign-invested enterprises have generated about one-fifth of Shenzhen's GDP, 40 percent of the city's foreign trade and nearly 30 percent of its tax revenue every year," said the bureau.About 35 percent of Shenzhen's industrial output value above designated size comes from foreign-invested enterprises, which makes a great contribution to the city's economic development, according to the bureau.Shenzhen's quality business environment has also become a magnet for Fortune 500 companies to set up innovation centers, regional headquarters and R&D centers, and beef up investment in the city. Data shows that nearly 300 of the Fortune 500 companies have invested in Shenzhen."Shenzhen can efficiently turn ideas into products, and the local government and business environment are also very trustworthy," said Maximilian Butek, chief representative of the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Guangzhou.Butek said that Shenzhen is a "Silicon Valley of Hardware" in the world, which can provide hardware with sufficient supply and at competitive prices.The bureau disclosed that Shenzhen will strive to relax market access for foreign investors to establish investment companies and engage in audio-visual products production, stem cell medical engineering and other businesses in the city.

Huawei, Tencent get leading technology awards

11 25, 2020

Two Shenzhen-based companies, Huawei and Tencent, have won the Prizes for World Leading Technologies at the Light of Internet Expo of the 2020 World Internet Conference (WIC) that opened in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province, on Sunday.Tencent won the prize with its product "Tencent Conference" and Huawei won the title with its cloud-based "Intelligent Twins."After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tencent opened its virtual conference that can hold 300 people and expanded its virtual conference to 100,000 cloud hosts in eight days. Its cloud conference service had covered more than 100 countries and regions and helped save social costs worth 71.4 billion yuan (US$10.85 billion) between January and May, according to Wu Zurong, vice president of Tencent Cloud, during a speech at the expo.It was the fifth year for Huawei Technologies to win the prize. According to Shi Jilin, vice president of Huawei Technologies, the Intelligent Twins is a systematic reference architecture proposed for the intelligent upgrade of governments and enterprises. Customers and partners of Huawei can build their own intelligent solutions based on the Intelligent Twins to enable intelligent transformation across industries for all-scenario intelligence.Leveraging on the cloud as the foundation and AI as the core, Huawei and its partners had put the Intelligent Twins into practice in more than 600 projects and are advancing the Intelligent Twins to a wide range of industries, such as government and public utilities, transportation, industry, energy, finance, health care and scientific research.In Shenzhen, the Intelligent Twins project aims to build an integrated deep learning system for citywide coordination, enabling a smart city that is perceptive, conscious, evolvable and familiar. Driven by data as the foundation, Shenzhen Intelligent Twins will leverage emerging technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, IoT, big data, AI, and blockchain to build a system that includes an intelligent service network, applications, intelligent hub, data interaction system and intelligent infrastructure.In the oil and gas industry, the Intelligent Twins project will reimagine the industry chain, shorten the time needed for identification of oil and gas exploration by 70 percent.The Light of Internet Expo, an important part of the WIC, lasted for three days, attracting more than 130 top enterprises and institutions from home and abroad, including Alibaba, Huawei, Tencent, Baidu, Epson and Infosys.This year's expo focused on the world's most recent Internet development trends and cutting-edge technologies, showcasing the latest Internet technologies, achievements, products and applications of 130 enterprises and institutions from home and abroad.Highlights included Alibaba Group's logistics robot and cloud computer, Tencent's "Digital Ark" initiative, China Unicom's 5G smart education device, Baidu's Apollo self-driving car and Zhijiang Lab's brain-like computer.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's World Internet Conference has been streamlined into a two-day "Internet Development Forum" with participants taking part both online and onsite.

SZ ranks No. 1 in economic competitiveness

10 26, 2020

Shenzhen ranks No. 1 in comprehensive economic competitiveness in 2020 among Chinese cities, according to a report jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Economic Daily.In terms of sustainable competitiveness of Chinese cities, Shenzhen ranks No. 2, following Hong Kong, the report shows.The report, made by researchers led by Ni Pengfei, assistant president to Economic Strategy Research Institute under CASS, surveyed and compared 291 cities in China around indexes in five subcategories under the comprehensive economic and sustainable competitiveness.In comprehensive economic competitiveness, Shenzhen is followed by Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Suzhou, Taipei, Nanjing, Wuhan and Wuxi took places 6th to 10th. In sustainable competitiveness, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing took the first five places. Guangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao and Wuhan rounded out the top 10.In the subcategories, Shenzhen takes first place in local element competitiveness and economic vitality, second place in environment resilience, fourth place in business environment, No. 5 in global connection competitiveness, No. 6 in tech innovation, No. 8 in business environment competitiveness and No. 10 in living environment competitiveness.In terms of overall layout, the layout of metropolis circles and incremental economic competitiveness are two major reasons leading to differences in competitiveness. The overall economic competitiveness in China is considered strong in the east and the south, weak in the west and the north. Competitiveness is seen as rising in the east and south, stable in the west and declining in the north.In regional development, the competitiveness in the south is getting stronger, the north is getting weaker and the central and eastern areas are becoming more integrated. The metropolis circles headed by a central city, or several central cities, has become the backbone for the urban comprehensive economic competitiveness of Chinese cities, the report shows. The competitiveness of city clusters in the central and southern areas near Bohai Sea in Liaoning Province is much lower than the city clusters at the mouths of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. The city clusters in Central China are on the rise.The competitiveness among the first- and second-tier cities has become stronger due to small differences.