Plans to optimize biz climate applauded by intl. communities

Video and photos by Liu Xudong, Lin Jianping

Shenzhen has recently released three impactful documents aimed at enhancing its business environment. These documents focus on bolstering the rule of law, attracting foreign investment, and aligning with prominent trade regulations. The international communities in Shenzhen have warmly welcomed the issuance of these three documents.

In addition, the EyeShenzhen multilingual website has released the documents in nine languages, namely English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese, Arabian, Korean and Portuguese, providing expats a direct and easy access to the three documents.

Senior executives from the European Chamber of Commerce in China spoke highly of the documents, expressing their belief that they are helpful to the development of Shenzhen.

According to Klaus Zenkel, vice president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China and chair of the European Chamber South China Chapter, the reason why many EU enterprises like Shenzhen, the “Silicon Valley of China,” is that it’s easy to do business, especially regarding R&D, where processes can take place quite efficiently.

Klaus Zenkel

“Communication-wise, Shenzhen is planning to translate more information such as regulations and policies into English and other languages, and I think this is a great move,” said Zenkel.

“Shenzhen is always the pilot city of China,” he added when focusing and elaborating on one specific measure that facilitates digital payment for expats. “This move is vital if you are attracting people to China, because once proved accessible in Shenzhen, it can be promoted to other cities,” said Zenkel.

Christian Gassner

Christian Gassner, a board member of the European Chamber South China Chapter, has been in Shenzhen since 2002. He said that compared to 20 years ago, the government nowadays is listening more to foreign enterprises. “The environment is more welcoming. The infrastructures are complete so that companies are provided with more opportunities,” said Gassner.

“If I have to use one word to describe the recently released documents, it would be ‘excellent,’” said Edward Xia, managing director of JLL Shenzhen.

Edward Xia

Xia emphasizes more on creating an open industrial innovation ecosystem, as it will comprehensively improve the international standards of producer services. He believes that in addition to the well-developed infrastructures, if the internationalized ecosystem of the service industry is also well built, it will be very beneficial for foreign investors to enter and invest.

“If foreign investors come to Shenzhen and we offer an excellent service industry environment, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. Why are foreign investors increasingly favoring Shenzhen? There are several important reasons. First, innovation is deeply embedded in Shenzhen’s DNA. Second, it enjoys geographical advantages due to its proximity to the international market in Hong Kong. Moreover, Shenzhen has consistently developed itself as a service-oriented city,” he commented.

Xia added that Shenzhen’s attainment of international city status over the years is largely attributed to its favorable business environment. “Supporting full communication between private enterprises, helping them go global, and promoting their development is part of Shenzhen’s unique business DNA.”