Xiamen offers high level of business facilitation

 According to the evaluation of business environment in China in 2020 released recently by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Xiamen enjoys a high degree of ease of doing business and a strong sense of access by market players. The NDRC has initiated an evaluation of China's business environment in 80 cities nationwide since September 2020, analyzing the business environment of the participating cities in depth oriented to the satisfaction of market players and the public. In the list of benchmark cities in various indicators of the national business environment evaluation in 2020 announced by the NDRC, Xiamen was awarded "national benchmark" for all 18 indicators. Xiamen has all along highly valued and implemented the continuous optimization of the business environment, to achieve which the Regulations on the Optimization of the Business Environment of Xiamen Special Economic Zone will be developed. The draft regulations are now open for public comments.

Xiamen registered decade-high FDI growth rate

 Since the effectiveness of the Foreign Investment Law of the People's Republic of China, Xiamen has strengthened foreign investment promotion, protection, and administration work and effectively boosted foreign investors' confidence in Xiamen. Since 2019, Xiamen has witnessed a continuous increase in the level of foreign investments, with an annual growth of over 20% in foreign investment for two years consecutively and a decade-high FDI growth rate. In 2020, Xiamen utilized a total foreign investment of 16.6 billion yuan, up by 23.8% YOY, or 13.5 percentage points higher than the provincial average, and accounting for 47.7% of the provincial total. It ranked the first in the province in the scale of contracted foreign investment and paid-in foreign investment.

Xiamen to forge Future Sci-Tech City

 In the recently issued Implementation Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of High-Tech Industrial Development Zone by Fujian Province, Xiamen Future Sci-Tech City received much attention. The plan proposes to build Xiamen Future Sci-Tech City that is suitable for living, business and creation by relying on such innovative resources as Xiamen University, Tan Kah Kee Innovation Laboratory and the "three valleys" (Intelligence Valley, Cloud Valley, Creative Valley) in Tong'an, etc. To build a future sci-tech city, Xiamen will make a cluster layout of research universities, provincial innovation laboratories, future industrial parks and major innovation application scenarios with the goal of "strengthening science, nurturing industries, optimizing services and building a new city" to create a regional innovation highland for living, business and creation. Initially proposed to be located in East Coast New Town and covering a floor area of 133 square kilometers, the Future Sci-Tech City is scheduled to be fully completed by 2035.

Xiamen crowned as an "exemplary city for green shipment and distribution"

 Xiamen has been honorably rated as one of the "exemplary cities for green shipment and distribution" that was recently awarded to 16 cities nationwide, being the only Fujian city enlisted. Meanwhile, logistic enterprises and parks of Xiamen were also defined as objects that will be incubated as exemplary logistic enterprises and parks of Fujian. The logistics industry, as a hundred-billion-yuan pillar industry of Xiamen, stood at 130.1 billion yuan of total revenue in 2020. Furthermore, Xiamen is pushing forward the development of the modern logistics industry in terms of policies, exhibition fairs, investment promotion, and project settlement. In the future, the logistics industry of Xiamen will boom in five aspects, that is port logistics, high-end innovative logistics, inter-city and urban-rural distribution, logistics connecting the manufacturing and commerce industries, and inter-regional logistics. Investment opportunities will be opened to global investors to draw more industrially leading enterprises and institutions.

Xiamen constructs "1+4+N" advanced manufacturing system

 Recently, Xiamen released a special development plan for the manufacturing industry in the "Fourteenth Five-year Plan", which raises a target that: by 2035, Xiamen's manufacturing industry will have realized leap-frog development, the industrial infrastructure will have been significantly advanced and the industrial chain modernized; the national demonstrative base for high-end manufacturing and the innovation base for the new industrial revolution partnership with BRICS countries will have been established. Xiamen will take the lead in achieving all-rounded and high-caliber development to support the construction of its globally competitive modern industrial system. During the "Fourteenth Five-year Plan" period, Xiamen's manufacturing industry will tap critical elements and resources in southwestern Fujian and both sides of the Taiwan Straits by fully utilizing domestic and global markets, and firmly advance industrial infrastructure and modernize industrial chains on the strength of its deep understanding of technical development trends of the new industrial revolution. While taking electronic information industry as the lead and being underpinned by high-end equipment manufacturing, new consumption, biomedicine and health, and new materials, Xiamen will construct an industrial ecosystem featuring integrated development of multiple digitalized industries, thus striving to form the Xiamen-styled "1+4+N" manufacturing system.

Xiamen boasts 127 headquarters enterprises

 With 127 headquarters enterprises (corporate groups), Xiamen has preliminarily shaped the development landscape and aggregation effect of headquarters economy. With a total of 1,057 commercial subjects contributing a total tax of 18.15 billion yuan in 2020, these enterprises accounted for 47.8% of total corporate profits of the entire Xiamen and created about 210,000 jobs. As an important engine to boost Xiamen's economic development, they actively facilitate the upgrade and optimization of the industrial structure. In terms of business scale, among 127 headquarters enterprises, 47 of them contribute an annual tax of more than 100 million yuan, accounting for 37%. In terms of geographical location, 45 of them are home-grown, accounting for 35.4%, while 82 were introduced from other regions, accounting for 64.6%. In terms of company size, 12 of them are Fortune Global 500 companies, accounting for 9.4%, while 23 are Fortune China 500, accounting for 18.1%.

Xiamen leads the nation in China Innovation Index

 According to the latest report, Xiamen ranks 11th out of 72 national innovation-based cities in China. In recent years, Xiamen has focused on the development of key industries and introduced 129 reform and innovation measures. An array of innovation cases with nationwide influence were created, 26 of which have been publicized and promoted throughout the province. A line of projects are also advancing in Xiamen, including the Tan Kah Kee Innovation Lab and the National Integrated Circuit Production & Teaching Platform. Now Xiamen owns one provincial-level innovation lab, five national key labs, 21 provincial key labs, 113 municipal key labs, 14 national engineering research centers and engineering labs. The city's investment in science and technology increased from 1.858 billion yuan in 2015 to 4.122 billion yuan in 2020, with an average annual growth of 24%. Also, there are 2,282 national high-tech enterprises settled in Xiamen, accounting for 35.08% of Fujian's total. The number of invention patents per 10,000 Xiamen residents reached 37.93, 3 times that of the provincial average and 2.4 times that of the national average. The comprehensive strength of Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone has improved and ranked 16th place in the country.