The Invest Shanghai Global Roadshow reveals that China’s financial capital has a great deal more to offer investors than just finance
Three of Shanghai’s premiere districts were on show at a trade promotion event in Sydney which clearly demonstrates that China remains a market of opportunity for international trade and investment. Senior investment representatives from the Yangpu, Minhang and Jinshan districts presented their visions for growth to a business audience in Sydney.
While China is faced with moderate economic growth, which the naysayers keep saying will be the end of the world’s second largest economy, that lower growth comes after sustained periods of high single-digit growth over the past three decades. The IMF’s projection for Chinese economic growth in 2024 is 4.8 percent, by contrast, the OECD predicts Eurozone GDP growth in 2024 will be less than one percent.
The clear message is that China not going anywhere and its investment in education, research and development is far outstripping major western economies.
The delegation, led by the head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information China, Mr. Cheng Peng featured presentations from Mr. Li Guowen, representing Yangpu; Ms. Jiang Jianhong from Minhang; and Mr. Jiang Juwang from Jinshan.
The Yangpu district has a relatively small population of just 1.2 million people, however, it boasts 10 universities with a total of 180,000 students, more than 50 separate research institutes and laboratories and 70 plus innovation incubators.
Aside from hosting international brands from Nike to IBM, Synopsis, Siemens and Continental, Yangpu has more than 7,000 companies engaged in the digital economy.
Minhang is home to more than 2,800 high tech enterprises and its R&D spend is 9.16 percent of the district’s GDP, with U.S. government data showing the spend in the world’s largest economy in around three percent of GDP.
Among Minhang’s key industries are intelligent manufacturing, aeronautics, high-end energy equipment, shipbuilding, rail transit equipment, biomedicine and AI.
As with its two peer districts, Jinshan’s industrial focus is very much on high value-added production. Biotechnology, intelligent manufacturing equipment, next generation information technology and advanced materials are among its key offerings.
There’s also a burgeoning UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) industry, and hydrogen for transport including commuter buses and other commercial vehicles. Jinshan is a magnet for international companies with Bayer, SC Johnson, BP, Lego, Hitachi 3M, BASF and Lotte located in the district.
Providing an Australia perspective, Blackmores CEO, Alastair Symington outlined the growth of the vitamins and complementary medicine maker in China. In particular, the role that Shanghai played in facilitating its expansion from a local Australian company into the world’s largest consumer market.
While individual Chinese companies did not attend the event, the theme was very much opportunities for trade and investment facilitation for Australian businesses. With top level representatives from investment bureaus on hand, clearly events like these remain a valuable avenue for laying the groundwork for future business.
