¥900B deals inked at global investment promotion conference

Video and photos by Lin Jianping

Shenzhen saw over 400 projects with a total investment exceeding 900 billion yuan (US$123.88 billion) inked at the 2024 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference, which opened at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Futian District on Dec. 6.

The conference has attracted over 700 companies and institutions, with over 200 Fortune Global 500 companies and multinational corporations from 33 countries and regions across Europe, Asia and the Americas to participate.

A scene of the conference.

During the conference, a number of business representatives and entrepreneurs shared their experiences in their presentations and promoted Shenzhen as a prime investment destination to the global audience.

Wang Haimin, chairman of China Tourism Group, praised Shenzhen as "an innovation hub, a blessed place for entrepreneurship, and a treasure of investment." He said that China Tourism Group would leverage the opportunities in Shenzhen and help the city become a world-class tourist destination with global influence.

Samson Khaou, executive vice president of Asia Pacific, Dassault Systèmes, highlighted Shenzhen's world-class economic strength, research and development investment, and industrial innovation capabilities. Since 2023, Shenzhen and Dassault Systèmes have been collaborating to establish a digital innovation ecosystem in the city.

“The conference is very insightful for me. It is the first time for Dassault Systèmes to participate in this event. So l'm very impressed and very amazed by the quality of the presentation,” Khaou told Shenzhen Daily.

“I'm also very impressed by the ambition of the city, as well as the capability of the city to support all the foreign enterprises to invest in Shenzhen,” said Khaou, adding that Shenzhen has a very vibrant business environment.

Zhang Lei, founder and chairman of green technology company Envision, also expressed his enthusiasm for investing in Shenzhen.

Zhang attributed Envision's choice of Shenzhen to its market-oriented, rule-of-law, and internationalized business environment. He noted the potential for cooperation between Shenzhen and Envision in the decarbonization of shipping.

Attendees at the conference.

The projects signed at the conference cover a wide range of fields, including new energy, next-generation electronic information, low-altitude economy and aerospace, intelligent connected vehicles, biomedicine, and medical devices.

This year, the conference features an extensive series of activities, including a main-venue event, nine thematic investment promotion events, 11 investment inspection events, and a number of overseas sub-venue investment promotion events.

A signing ceremony at the conference.

The city has held five overseas sub-venue events in Melbourne, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Sǎo Paulo, which attracted more than 400 representatives from business associations, investment institutions and enterprises to participate.

Shenzhen has hosted the investment promotion conference for six consecutive years to further cement position as a leading global investment destination. Statistics show the city has over 4.38 million business entities, with its entrepreneurship density continuing to lead the country.