New energy vehicles on display at the ongoing Zhongguancun Forum on May 26, 2023. They made the remarks at the 2023 Invest Beijing Global Summit, a major event of the Zhongguancun Forum, where domestic and foreign companies in China signed a combined 60.8 billion yuan $8.61 billion worth of investment agreements, covering 39 projects in the city, including biotech, intelligent connected vehicles, green energy, as well as energy conservation and environmental protection.
I am confident that Beijing, with its clear commitment to continuing with China's reform and opening-up policy and constantly improving the business environment, will remain an attractive choice for foreign investors, Kallenius said in a video message.
He said he has lived in the city for years, and has experienced its amazing and positive development firsthand: I am a Beijinger. We are happy to see that Beijing is making great efforts to position itself in this country in the automotive industry, including self-driving cars, Kallenius said.
Our joint venture in Beijing has become the largest production site of Mercedes-Benz worldwide, and our investment has not only covered the expansion of production but also increased local research and development and the entire automotive value chain, he said.
Bayer's efforts in pushing for reform and open-up and favorable policies have attracted Bayer to become one of the first multinationals to settle down in the city. Local officials have visited the German company's factory in Beijing several times to better understand its development needs and the healthcare firm has also received speedy customs clearances, Bayer said, enabling Bayer to have full confidence in its future development in the city.
The Chinese capital is a center for technological advancements in the country. According to a white paper by the Beijing Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the city topped globally in the number of AI companies, the number of papers published about AI, AI computing power, and industrial agglomeration ability in core areas.
Of the world's top 100 institutions in terms of the number of patents granted to AI-related companies, 30 are headquartered in Beijing.
Foreign companies are warmly welcome to actively participate in investing in Beijing for more exchanges and cooperation, as Beijing, one of the first pilot cities to develop international consumption and an innovative business environment, Qiuping said.
Zhou Kui, the partner of investment firm Sequoia China, said among the Beijing-based companies it has invested in, 50 have completed initial public offerings and 43 have become unicorns, referring to privately held firms with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
Beijing has long attached great importance to the development ecology of the venture capital industry, offering sufficient talent for cutting-edge innovation and providing rich application scenarios for technology implementation, Zhou said.
We firmly believe that more original achievements and leading companies with global influence will be formed in the future in Beijing, he added.