Foreign Companies Open-Armed in Beijing, China... "Expanding Exchanges with Government"

The Beijing Municipal Government in China has officially launched efforts to attract investment by promoting exchanges with foreign companies, including those from Korea, and expanding subsidies and tax benefits. This strategy is interpreted as an attempt to inject vitality into the economy by attracting foreign capital amid growing concerns that China's economic growth is reaching its limits, a diagnosis known as 'Peak China.'

On the 10th, Liang Jinhui, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, stated at the '2024 Beijing Economic Policy Briefing' held at the POSCO Building in Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing, that “in line with the central government and Beijing municipal government's policy stance on stabilizing foreign investment, we will interpret policies by country and industry and organize more exchange activities between the government and enterprises.”

On the 10th, the '2024 Beijing Economic Policy Briefing' was held at the POSCO Building in Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. (Photo by Hyunjung Kim)

Beijing is currently supporting tax benefits related to research and development (R&D) expenses for foreign companies and encouraging the establishment of R&D centers, as announced in a policy released in September last year. The 'Measures to Support the Development of Foreign-invested R&D Centers' announced at that time included support in five areas: improvement and expansion of foreign-invested R&D centers, conducting cutting-edge scientific and technological innovation, enhancing the level of R&D promotion, strengthening comprehensive factor guarantees, and improving services. In particular, Beijing explained that it would provide up to 50 million yuan (approximately 9.1 billion KRW) in financial support for the development of foreign-invested R&D centers. Additionally, up to 20 million yuan will be provided for expansions or upgrades.

Deputy Director Liang said, “Korea has established 375 foreign-invested enterprises in Beijing over the past five years, with actual investment amounting to 2.23 billion USD (approximately 2.9391 trillion KRW). Beijing has recently introduced reform measures in the 'Business Environment Version 6.0' and continues to implement a series of policy measures for the development of foreign-invested enterprises.”

Xia Mingjun, Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Department of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, emphasized the optimistic economic situation in Beijing, stating, “Last year, the GDP growth target for the Beijing area was set at 4.5%, but it is currently expected to exceed that by about 0.5 percentage points, reaching 5.0%.”

Du Dalin, a research fellow at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, explained, “We provide subsidies of less than 20 million yuan (approximately 360 million KRW) to existing foreign-invested enterprises, and offer convenience measures for foreign talents such as assistance with children's school admissions, medical support, and customs fast-track services. Benchmarking against the international city of Shanghai, we aim to have more companies recognized as global corporate headquarters and provide tangible convenience services and open policies.”

Meanwhile, Lee Jae-geun, Commercial Counselor at the Korean Embassy in China who attended the event, said, “Despite difficulties such as the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade reached a record high of 301.4 billion USD in 2022, and cumulative investment surpassed 100 billion USD. The leaders of both countries highly appreciate the achievements of economic cooperation and have agreed to open a more mature and healthy future based on mutual respect and expanded common interests.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.