Struggle to build a dream
What's the magic of "Magic City"
On July 27, two heavy news pushed Shanghai into the "spotlight" of the world. On this day, the World Bank released a report stating that China’s ranking in the “Business Environment Report” has jumped from 78th in 2018 to 31st in 2020. Shanghai has helped China’s business environment reach the forefront of the world with a weight of 55%. Level. On the same day, the Shanghai Municipal Government announced that under the influence of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Shanghai’s actual foreign investment in the first half of the year was US$10.28 billion, an increase of 5.4% over the same period last year; 26 regional headquarters of multinational companies and 10 R&D centers were newly added, each amounting to 746. Homes and 471 homes.
What magic power does this “magic capital” known for its fashion and modernity have that allows foreign capital to stay in China steadily and “accumulate” China?
The most fascinating super "market" in the world
On March 24, four months ago, people in the opener member store in the outer ring of Minhang District, Shanghai, wearing masks and medical gloves, lined up for shopping in an orderly manner. A cart of goods was checked out at the cash register, and the customer unit price reached almost 1,000 yuan per order. This supermarket can buy the windbreaker of the world-famous Burberry, as well as a bottle of Moutai which is difficult to find.
To shop here, you need to pay an annual membership fee of 299 yuan. Almost all of the commodities here, from food to FMCG, are imported commodities, and the prices are not cheap compared to large supermarkets. According to the fourth quarter's financial report, this supermarket, which has been in operation in Shanghai for less than a year, already has 200,000 members.
Also on March 24, Sam's Club, a high-end membership store under the Fortune 500 company Wal-Mart, announced that it will open a flagship store in Shanghai, which is expected to open in 2021. This is also Sam's third store in Shanghai. The flagship store is located in the Waigaoqiao New Development Park in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. This will be the largest single-family building operated by Sam in China. The total building volume is about 70,000 square meters, including the largest single-story Sam store in China and covering catering , Entertainment, life, education and other fields, in addition to smart parking lots with more than 1,100 parking spaces.
Wen Ande, President of Sam's Club China Business, said that it is expected that by the end of 2022, Sam will have 40-45 stores open and under construction in China.
The epidemic cannot stop foreign giants from overtaking China's determination. During the epidemic, IKEA also "increased" the Chinese market. In 2020, IKEA China has implemented an investment of RMB 10 billion. Anna Kuliga, president of IKEA China, even cared about the "Chinese urbanization". She noticed that the per capita disposable income in China is increasing. On March 1, IKEA's first small store in the Chinese market, IKEA Yangpu Mall, officially opened its doors to welcome customers, with a total area of approximately 8,500 square meters.
Recently, in addition to Wal-Mart, many of the world's top 500 foreign companies, including Allergan, Mitsubishi Corporation, Ford, etc., have expressed that they will continue to expand their investment in Shanghai.
Doing business in Shanghai allows foreign investors to rest assured
Recently, 54 foreign-funded projects with a total investment of more than US$8 billion were signed in Shanghai. Among them, 15 projects involve new infrastructure, 10 projects have an investment of more than 100 million US dollars, and 3 projects come from Fortune 500 companies. Shanghai has always been a hot spot and highland for foreign investment. Nearly 60,000 foreign-funded enterprises contributed more than one-quarter of the GDP, more than one-third of taxes, and about two-thirds of imports and exports and scale. The total industrial output value above, one-fifth of the employed population.
The "Several Measures for Shanghai Municipality to Implement the "Opinions of the State Council on Further Doing a Good Job in the Utilization of Foreign Capital" (hereinafter referred to as the "New Foreign Investment Policy") released on April 10 is based on the principles of "adding a new piece, subdividing one piece, implementing one piece, and emphasizing one piece". The idea, including 24 measures in 4 aspects, is full of gold. Focusing on investment facilitation, Shanghai’s new foreign investment policy has introduced three aspects including supporting cross-border capital investment facilitation, optimizing the process of permitting foreigners to come to China, and optimizing the approval of project planning land, which not only simplifies the specific process, but also reflects the innovation of policies. And breakthrough.
On July 28th, Dyson ushered in a "raised" verdict. In response to a group of criminal suspects who hired professional and technical personnel to disassemble, analyze, develop and produce counterfeit Dyson hair dryers by themselves, and sell the fake products to many provinces and cities across the country, the People’s Court of Shanghai Pudong New Area sentenced 35 defendants to six per year The actual penalty ranged from one month to six years, and the total fine amounted to RMB 10.08 million. Among them, the two principal offenders were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of six and five years, and fined RMB 5 million and 1.6 million respectively.
Guo Lang, President of Dyson's Greater China Region, believes that such a verdict demonstrates Shanghai's efforts to crack down on illegal and criminal activities and a high-quality legalized business environment, and "boosts our confidence in operating in China."
The reporter noted that in the new foreign investment policy, intellectual property protection related content accounted for a certain proportion, including playing an important role in intellectual property judicial protection and improving the working mechanism of intellectual property protection. From the perspective of the upgrading of intellectual property protection in Shanghai's new foreign investment policy, the protection of innovation and creation has become an important element in Shanghai's investment promotion.
"Dian Xiao Er" for major events, the headquarters of foreign companies choose Shanghai
Regardless of whether it is domestic or foreign, Shanghai governments at all levels have always positioned themselves as the "second shop" and faced challenges again and again with the original intention of serving enterprises.
The epidemic at the beginning of this year had a greater impact on the economy. Shanghai conducted full coverage visits to the regional headquarters of 720 multinational companies, contacted more than 40,000 foreign-funded companies, sorted out and summarized 553 problems, and the problem-solving rate reached 98.7%.
On July 27, the 100-day countdown to the opening of the 3rd China International Import Expo was held as scheduled, which brought confidence to the Estee Lauder Group. This beauty company, which has entered the Chinese market for 27 years, is full of confidence in the prospects of the Chinese market after the epidemic is effectively controlled. Last year, the two new global concepts of luxury fragrance brands launched in the first show of the Estée Lauder Group's Expo Pavilion and the first store in China were officially opened in Shanghai IFC on June 16.
"We will also invest in building a world-class R&D center in China, using cutting-edge technology and equipment to promote breakthrough beauty innovations in China, the Asia-Pacific region and even around the world." Fan Jiayu, President of Estee Lauder Group China, has been busy dealing with the third two days. Participation matters at the CIIE. The group will expand the booth area by about 100 square meters this year, and upgrade the product display, interactive experience and cutting-edge communication space in all aspects.
The reporter learned that on April 8, Shanghai issued certificates to 21 newly recognized regional headquarters of multinational companies and 10 R&D centers. The "traditional project" of "Mayor's Certificate" began in 2002, and it is Shanghai's affirmation and support for multinational companies to operate in Shanghai.
After French Mérieux settled its Greater China headquarters in Shanghai, it also established its R&D center in Shanghai. This year, there will be an investment of 300 million yuan in Shanghai, and the product line originally only in the United States will be registered in Shanghai. Research and development, clinical trials and production.
Dassault Systèmes, the world's largest software company in the field of innovative design and headquartered in Paris, France, announced on July 23 that it would move its Asia Pacific headquarters from Tokyo, Japan to Pudong, Shanghai. At the same time, the company also plans to increase its business in China by setting up a life sciences and intelligent manufacturing innovation center in Pudong to empower biomedical innovation research and development through simulation systems.
Luo Xiwen, executive vice president of Dassault Systèmes, told reporters that China's "hard battle" performance in the fight against the epidemic showed him the "resilience" of the Chinese economy. "The new crown pneumonia epidemic did not have much impact on Dassault Systèmes' deployment and plans in China, but instead allowed us to explore room for growth in China. We plan to increase investment in China to expand our strength and deployment." Luo Xiwen said .
The world-renowned sports brand Puma has its regional headquarters in Shanghai. Bo Jiyong, President of Puma Greater China, said that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has not had any impact on Puma's plan to deploy in Shanghai and China. "This year we plan to open hundreds of stores in China. We expect the Chinese consumer market to experience a period of time. After the trough, the temperature of consumption will rise steadily."
Up to now, Shanghai has successively held 9 government-enterprise cooperation roundtable meetings including Japanese-funded, Korean-funded, and US-funded enterprises, and coordinated to solve problems such as poor logistics, labor difficulties, insufficient protective equipment, and medical treatment for foreigners.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Wang Yejie Source: China Youth Daily