Chongqing- From January to November 2021, 298 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in Chongqing. This represents an increase of 27.4% new enterprises from last year, and a total of 312 Fortune 500 enterprises settled in the city, according to the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Recently, the second headquarters of Amer International Group, a high-technology industry Fortune 500 company, settled at Yuzhong District, marking its official appearance of the functional headquarters covering the entire industrial chain of the group. The settlement of fortune 500 companies like Amer International Group will contribute wisdom to the high-quality development of Chongqing, allowing the city to integrate into the modern development pattern more effectively.
A picture of Chongqing. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)
Foreign trade increased by 24% year-on-year
According to the 2022 Relevant Policies Briefings Concerning Foreign-Invested Enterprises held by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce recently, the city's open economy in 2021 developed steadily and was better than expected.
2022 Relevant Policies Briefings Concerning Foreign-Invested Enterprises. (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce)
Chongqing’s total foreign trade value reached 800.6 billion yuan (about 126.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, a record high, meanwhile, the city's foreign investment has increased steadily too. From January to November 2021, 60 enterprises in Chongqing made non-financial outbound direct investments (ODI) in 70 overseas enterprises out of 29 countries and regions, with a cumulative investment of US$1.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 41.6%, while China's ODI reached 640.38 billion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, down 2.9 percent year on year.
Benefits for foreign-invested enterprises
At the briefing, the preferential policies for foreign direct investment on China's western development, development of high-tech enterprises, pre-tax deduction of R&D expenses, the foreign direct investment in the profits distributed from the Chinese TREs, preferential tax policy for foreign employees, foreign exchange registration and capital income settlement, as well as customs cross-border trade facilitation measures were introduced and discussed respectively.
At the same time, the major strategic opportunities in the context of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which has officially entered into force, the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the cultivation and construction of international consumption center city, and the comprehensive pilot project for the expansion and opening-up of the service industry were also explained.
The briefing noted that Chongqing would further improve services in the whole process for foreign-invested enterprises in the city.
In particular, the city will support and guide them to share the strategic opportunities and policy dividends of Chongqing's development, helping them better integrate into the domestic and international circulations.
Chongqing has become the only city in the central and western regions to carry out a comprehensive pilot program for expanding its service industry. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)
(Shi Jiaqi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)