Despite the deep global economic recession brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Shenzhen companies still invested and established 600 enterprises and institutions overseas in the first 11 months last year, with an actual investment of US$7.129 billion, ranking second in the country, according to the city’s commerce bureau.
More than 60 percent of them were set up by Shenzhen retailers, while leading enterprises, such as Huawei, ZTE, BYD, China International Marine Containers (Group) Ltd., Hytera and Mindray, made the bulk of outbound investment in the real economy, the bureau said.
The city saw its newly signed contract value reach US$13.008 billion in the overseas market from January to November last year, with projects worth US$11.613 billion completed, ranking first in the country.
During the period, outbound investment along Belt and Road countries and regions showed remarkable growth momentum. Shenzhen invested US$167 million in 11 Belt and Road countries such as Singapore, Vietnam and Hungary, up by 117 percent year on year. Contracts were signed on 33 new projects worth at least US$10 million each.
As a key project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Vietnam (Shenzhen-Haiphong) Economic and Trade Cooperation Park, which aims to encourage China’s manufacturing enterprises to invest overseas, is invested by Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co. Ltd.
In December last year, the park was officially launched, housing 32 high-quality manufacturers whose investment and annual output value totaled US$470 million and US$1 billion, respectively, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
Another major project was invested by Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet, China’s third-largest zinc producer based in Shenzhen. The company invested over US$296 million at Monseñor Nouel in the Dominican Republic, which is estimated to produce 2 million tons of minerals annually.
As of November 2021, Shenzhen companies had set up a total of 8,094 enterprises and institutions in 146 countries and regions, covering wholesale and retail, manufacturing, leasing and other fields, according to the bureau.