Construction projects worth 680 billion yuan signed

Xiamen has balanced its epidemic prevention and investment promotions so far this year and achieved good results, it was announced at a news conference on Sept 7.

The coastal city in Fujian province has secured 7,007 new investment attraction projects since the beginning of the year, 2.9 times the total of 2019. It has seen 4,016 projects signed since the beginning of 2020, with a total investment worth 680.8 billion yuan ($99.74 billion).

In fact, 118 projects from China's top 500 enterprises, such as JD, Zijin Mining and New Hope, were signed this year, with investment totaling 146.2 billion yuan.

Xiamen focused on 12 large industrial chains, tackling their weaknesses and encouraging leading companies.

The innovation capacity of advanced manufacturing, such as panel displays, semiconductors and integrated circuits and new materials, was noticeably enhanced, said Huang Heming, director of the Xiamen bureau of commerce.

It hastened Xiamen's development into a "capital of servers", Huang said. Server and personal computer projects, led by companies including Inspur, have now begun operation.

The move also promoted the new economy and has attracted 79 projects involving smart robots of Shenzhen-based Ubtech Robotics and artificial intelligence of Shanghai-based Yitu. The projects' investments totaled 27.6 billion yuan.

Some companies involved in the film and television industry also decided to invest in projects Xiamen, such as the regional headquarters project of online audio platform Ximalaya and the film and television project of Maoyan Entertainment. The city also made achievements in attracting foreign capital this year. Noted multinationals such as Schneider Electric increased investment and expanded production. Several quality foreign-funded projects were launched, involving Philippine SM Group and other companies.

Xiamen used foreign capital of 12.13 billion yuan from January to August, a year-on-year rise of 36.3 percent.

After the COVID-19 outbreak, it has echoed national strategic plans and seized industrial development opportunities. Big data, 5G, artificial intelligence and online medical treatment were points of investment. Projects including artificial intelligence and medical rehabilitation of the pharmaceutical company Luyan were also put into operation.

Huang said local authorities set up different teams and cooperated to promote spatial planning, land supply and construction related to the projects. They founded 14 professional teams, comprising people from different fields, to attract investment.

On top of this, 133 policies were released to support industrial development and encourage investment attraction in fields such as finance, health, cultural tourism, biological medicine and electronic information. Specific policies were formulated for agricultural and manufacturing companies, which have big demand for capital, land, environment and policies.

Innovation platforms have also been established to support industrial development.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn