Towards revitalization in a high-level opening up——Observation on the phenomenon of foreign capital increasing investment in Northeast China

  Xinhua News Agency, Shenyang, March 23rd, title: Towards revitalization in a high-level opening up - Observation on the phenomenon of foreign investment increasing investment in Northeast China

  Xinhua News Agency reporter

  BMW increased its capital by nearly 30 billion yuan to control BMW Brilliance; Audi invested more than 30 billion yuan to build a pure electric vehicle production base... In the northeast of the early spring, heavy news continued.

The epidemic of the century and the changes of the century are intertwined and superimposed. What is it that attracts foreign investment to cast a "vote of confidence" here?

One after another

  In Tiexi District, Shenyang, the robotic arms in the new BMW Brilliance factory are neatly arranged in a queue, waiting for engineers to debug and "review"; in Dadong District, in the upgraded and expanded BMW Brilliance factory, the railway line connecting to the factory is ready to go, and arrives at the new car loading and unloading depot ...

  Launched in 2018, the new BMW Brilliance Tiexi plant with a total investment of 3 billion euros, and the Dadong plant upgrade and expansion project will be unveiled and put into production.

On February 11, BMW Group and Brilliance China announced another major announcement, delivering a total of about 27.9 billion yuan of equity in cash.

So far, BMW's shareholding in BMW Brilliance has increased from 50% to 75%.

  Since 2010, BMW Brilliance's investment in Shenyang can be described as non-stop.

Peter, the director in charge of finance at BMW Group, said the accumulated amount exceeded 73 billion yuan.

  Another auto giant is also stepping up in the Northeast.

On February 18, the Audi FAW new energy vehicle project was launched in Changchun, with a planned investment of over 30 billion yuan. It will build Audi's first production base in my country dedicated to the production of pure electric vehicles.

  In recent years, represented by automobiles, a number of foreign-funded enterprises have continued to invest in Northeast China.

The scale continues to expand -

  "In the past year, the scale of foreign investment in Liaoning has reached a new height." Song Yanlin, director of the Department of Commerce of Liaoning Province, said that 638 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established in the province, a year-on-year increase of 20.6%, and the growth rate of actual foreign investment was also significantly higher than the national average. .

  In Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, foreign investment is also increasing.

Audi, Mapletree Group, Yihai Kerry, Nestle and other foreign-funded enterprises have invested in expanding production.

  The pace keeps accelerating—

  In the northeast corner of Changchun, the China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone, which was established less than two years ago, has begun to take shape.

Among them, the China-Korea City Pavilion, which covers an area of ​​210,000 square meters, has opened its doors to welcome guests.

In the museum, from buying Korean products to savoring Korean customs... "Going to Korea" without visiting Changchun has become a new holiday choice for citizens.

  Li Zichen, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Demonstration Zone, said that since its inauguration, the China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone has invested a total of 11.145 billion yuan, with industrial investment accounting for 86%.

  Sino-German Garden, Sino-Japanese Garden, Sino-Korean Garden... In the Northeast, new carriers of international cooperation have been launched one after another, and news of new achievements has continued.

  The field continues to expand -

  In the production workshop of Heraeus Shin-Etsu Quartz (China) Co., Ltd. in Tiexi District, Shenyang City, workers in dust-proof suits carefully carry giant "test tubes" that are more than one meter high.

"It looks like an ordinary glass jar, and a piece is priced at 500,000 yuan." Huang Anping, general manager of the company, said that this is a high-precision, high-purity quartz container used for processing and shipping chips.

  As a German-Japanese joint venture, Heraeus, which is standing on the "golden track" of chips, will start construction of a new factory in April.

"The orders are full throughout the year, and we are now concentrating on expanding production capacity and delivering to customers with quality and quantity," Huang Anping said.

  From heavy equipment to chip manufacturing, from biopharmaceuticals to agricultural product processing... In the Northeast, the field of foreign investment continues to expand.

Harvest market resonance

  In Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang, the Yihai Kerry (Fuyu) Modern Agricultural Industrial Park, covering an area of ​​about 3 million square meters, is waiting for the temperature to rise and resume construction.

The completed corn starch project will start production at the end of 2021.

At the end of the line, packaged cornstarch, germ and protein powder, bag after bag.

  "In the beginning, I only planned to invest more than one billion yuan to build a preliminary processing project. Now the total planned investment exceeds ten billion yuan." said Cui Qinghui, deputy general manager of the industrial park.

  What makes foreign investment cast a "vote of confidence"?

  A growing market—

  Yihai Kerry Arowana Grain and Oil Co., Ltd.'s 2021 performance report shows that the total assets at the end of the reporting period exceeded 200 billion yuan, an increase of 15.7% from the beginning of the period, mainly due to the growth of the company's business scale.

By the end of 2021, Yihai Kerry, a company headquartered in Singapore, already has more than 70 production bases in operation in my country.

  The automobile industry is the beneficiary of the Chinese market.

The latest sales figures released by the BMW Group show that one out of every three BMWs sold is delivered to Chinese customers.

  "China is BMW's largest market." Gao Le, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, said that BMW's new product development will fully consider the expectations and needs of Chinese customers.

  Strong industrial base——

  As a sole proprietorship of Swiss Burkhard Compressor Co., Ltd., Shenyang Yuanda Compressor Co., Ltd. has maintained a double-digit growth in sales revenue in recent years. The plant area has been expanded from 89,000 square meters to 164,000 square meters, and this year's orders have reached 10 moon.

  Li Xiaogang, executive deputy general manager of the company, said that in addition to the market, the complete industrial chain and supply chain are important reasons for foreign investors to take a fancy to my country.

In this regard, the Northeast has more advantages.

"Most of our products are non-standard customized, and we have a strong dependence on high-level skilled workers in Northeast China."

  Smart manufacturing has also become a new focus of Sino-foreign cooperation.

Wei Lande, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive Co., Ltd., said that he has visited factories around the world, and the Shenyang production base is groundbreaking, integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and 5G.

"This prepares us for growth and new products in the future."

  Continuously optimized business environment——

  In Shuangcheng District, Harbin, the construction of Nestlé's world's first Grain Competence Center project is nearing completion.

  "Construction cannot be carried out here in winter. To make up for this shortcoming, we must find a way in the business environment to 'accelerate' the construction of the project." A person in charge of the company recalled that the project involved dealing with a complex plot of land, and it was all completed. It may take half a year, but the relevant departments work together to solve the problem in one month.

  The business environment used to be a shortcoming in Northeast China, but with the vigorous advancement of the new round of Northeast revitalization strategy, the business environment is also the biggest change here.

Investing in the Northeast is optimistic about China

  Whether it is a continuous capital increase or a new layout, behind these series of foreign investment trends, they all show their firm confidence in China's economy, China's opportunities, and China's opening up.

  The fundamentals of China's economic stability and progress have not changed, and the market is infinitely broad——

  In line with the capital increase and share expansion, the validity period of the cooperation between BMW and Brilliance will be extended to 2040.

Gao Le said that this reflects BMW's long-term confidence in China's economy, and BMW will be committed to continuous investment in China.

  According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, in 2021, the actual use of foreign capital nationwide will be 1,149.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%, and the scale of foreign investment will hit a new record high.

In Northeast China, the actual utilization of foreign capital in Liaoning and Jilin provinces increased by 27.1% and 16.7% respectively year-on-year, both higher than the national level.

  China's practice of green development opens up new space, and opportunities are at hand——

  "During the Beijing Winter Olympics, we provided the hydrogen compressors used by Yanshan Petrochemical, which provides a guaranteed supply of new hydrogen energy." Talking about the company's future investment plan, Li Xiaogang said, "We have focused on the direction of clean energy."

  From resource-driven to green development, the huge market space nurtured in the Northeast is attracting attention from foreign capital.

In Changchun, the China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone is planning a China-Korea Hydrogen Energy Comprehensive Utilization Industrial Park, and actively connects and introduces advantageous enterprises such as the Hydrogen Energy Research Institute of Pusan ​​University, South Korea's 9K Company, and SK Group.

  China is considered a barometer of the global auto market.

In 2021, the number of new energy vehicles in my country will increase by 59.25% year-on-year, far ahead of traditional power vehicles.

  "China has become a global leader in electric vehicles and a key driver of digitalization." Peter said, China is the best choice and best partner in BMW's transformation towards electrification, digitalization and sustainable development.

  China promotes high-level opening to the outside world with firm and strong steps——

  Deeply implement the negative list for foreign investment access, and effectively implement the national treatment of foreign-funded enterprises.

Expand the scope of encouraging foreign investment, support foreign investment to increase investment in mid-to-high-end manufacturing, R&D, modern services and other fields, as well as in the central, western and northeastern regions... At the just-concluded National Two Sessions, the government work report clearly stated that it is necessary to expand high-level opening to the outside world and promote foreign trade. Foreign investment developed steadily.

  The continuous investment of foreign capital in Northeast China is related to the continuous promotion of high-level opening up.

  As early as April 2018, my country issued a timetable for the further opening-up policy of the automobile industry, and made it clear that in 2022, the restrictions on the foreign shareholding ratio of passenger vehicles will be lifted.

On January 1, 2022, my country fulfilled its commitments as scheduled.

This time, BMW's capital increase and share expansion are benefiting from this.

  "China's determination and confidence in opening up to the outside world, its high-level opening up, and the continuous optimization of the business environment for multinational companies have created the strong attractiveness of the Chinese market."

Gole said that this has not only brought significant achievements to China, but also benefited many multinational companies, including BMW Group.

(Reporters Niu Jiwei, Xu Yang, Wang Wei, Qiang Yong, Yao Wei)