Editor’s Note: As the year of 2024 is around the corner, Shenzhen Daily has interviewed a number of senior executives of local foreign-invested companies, who walk us through their firms’ footprints within this year while exuding unwavering confidence in their future development. This is the second of our series of reports. Zhang Yu JeniZhang13@163.com THERE is no better time than now for foreign investors to invest in Shenzhen as the local government has shown a strong desire to deepen the influx of foreign direct investments by creating a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. The figures speak for themselves. The 2023 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference, in its fifth edition this year, witnessed the signing of over 380 projects involving investments surpassing 1 trillion yuan (US$139.8 billion). The conferences saw deals on over 900 projects signed from 2019 to 2022, involving a total intended investment of over 3 trillion yuan, statistics showed. In 2022, Shenzhen’s actual use of foreign capital reached a new high of US$11 billion, accounting for 39% of Guangdong Province’s total. In a resounding chorus of support, foreign investors have pledged their commitment to tapping the treasure trove of opportunities spanning diverse sectors in Shenzhen. Immense market potential In an interview with Shenzhen Daily earlier this month, Siegfried Boerst, regional managing director of LEGOLAND China, disclosed that construction of the LEGOLAND resort in Shenzhen, which will be the world’s largest, is in steady progress. “I think in the next six months or so, we will be able to announce an opening date,” Boerst said. He is confident that the theme park will achieve great success with its location in Shenzhen. According to Boerst, before deciding to build a LEGOLAND resort in Shenzhen, they had evaluated the project for many years and conducted extensive research, and found enormous tourism consumption potential in Shenzhen and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). “It will contain a lot of new ideas as well, especially targeting the Chinese people and adapting to local culture as well. We also have a few attractions and shows that are specifically designed for the China market,” Boerst said. The Shenzhen LEGOLAND resort is located in Dapeng New Area, covering an area of approximately 580,000 square meters. It will encompass a LEGOLAND theme park, the world’s largest LEGOLAND water park and three hotels with over 1,000 rooms. “Shenzhen is a very modern city. It has a lot of innovative companies in the technology sector. I think there’s a very bright future for Shenzhen,” Boerst said. “With our local partners and the government, we are very confident that we will have a very successful LEGOLAND resort here in Shenzhen.” Meanwhile, he believes that there are a lot of young families with children in Shenzhen and the GBA, which is perfect for LEGOLAND resort to attract targeted customers. R&D and innovation center Shenzhen is not only regarded as a first choice for foreign businesses keen on investing in China, but also a preferred destination for internationally renowned foreign-funded enterprises to establish R&D and innovation centers. In June this year, global information analytics company Elsevier set up a new office in Qianhai in a bid to get closer to science, health care and technology professionals and better serve its customer base. Youngsuk “YS” Chi, chairman of Elsevier and director of corporate affairs at RELX, Elsevier’s parent company, told Shenzhen Daily in an exclusive interview that Shenzhen has the fastest-growing number of researchers and quality academic output in China. “The reason why we are who we are is because we serve the research community. Now, we have arrived in Shenzhen because we think this is the hot place. We follow our researchers,” Chi said. In Chi’s opinion, building a successful innovation ecosystem requires a few consistent elements, which include financial resources, attractiveness of a city and cooperation among various sectors, and Shenzhen satisfies all these essential requirements. “There is a lot of investment in Shenzhen. It is a great place to live. It is a gateway to the world,” Chi said. Intel launched its Greater Bay Area Innovation Center in Nanshan District in July. A month later, Starbucks announced that it will set up an innovation and technology center in Shenzhen, with initial investment of about 1.5 billion yuan over the next three years. Earlier this month, Amazon Global Selling announced the launch of its Asia-Pacific innovation center in Shenzhen, which is its first innovation center in the world. In addition, Shenzhen has attracted a number of world-class foreign-funded enterprises, including Qualcomm, Apple, ARM, Siemens, ABB, and Sanofi to set up R&D and innovation centers. Among these foreign investors, there are 15 world-class scientific research enterprises and technology service providers, including 11 Fortune Global 500 companies in 2022, two world-renowned technology service providers, and two globally renowned semiconductor manufacturers. These companies involve fields such as intellectual property services, inspection and testing, strategic consulting, aerospace, biopharmaceuticals, high-end equipment manufacturing, and chip manufacturing and design. | 