Businesses upbeat about Shanghai's investment potential

Government officials and business representatives were upbeat about the city as an investment destination and business operation at the Invest in China·2024 Shanghai City Investment Promotion Conference on Wednesday at the Grand Halls by the Huangpu River.

Held in tandem with the ongoing 7th China International Import Expo, the conference afforded business people from home and abroad an excellent opportunity for interaction on business growth and cooperation.

She Xin, president of Amcor Greater China, was clearly appreciative of the city's business environment.

"The Chinese government has provided a sound policy environment, particularly in terms of making things easy for doing business here for foreign-invested companies. Specifically, Shanghai has implemented a series of measures aimed at streamlining procedures for obtaining administrative approvals, providing service packages for key enterprises, and establishing a one-stop service system for international trade, to the great satisfaction of all business participants," said She.

A leader in responsible packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, and home and personal care, Amcor provides environmentally sustainable packaging to nearly 30,000 brands by operating 218 factories in over 40 countries.

Since it entered China more than 30 years ago, it has been expanding steadily, now owning 13 factories in China, with its China headquarters based in Shanghai – a decision She attributed to CIIE.

During the 2nd CIIE, She said, local Yangpu District officials, after carefully examining Amcor's supply chain, its pool of clientele, its future vision, and its innovative capacity, had created conditions and convenience that ultimately led to the establishment of the regional headquarter in the Yangpu District, providing a revealing footnote to the deal-making capacity of CIIE.

Currently, the company is working hard to provide environmentally sustainable packaging materials.

Equally upbeat about the China market was Qiu Hai, president of the escalator division, Schindler Group.

"We are very proud to say that, as early as in 1980, Schindler launched the first joint venture in China in the industrial sector," Qiu said.

Qiu added that, given China's dominant position in the elevator market and the growing number of existing elevators in the country, as well as its decades-long commitment to the industry, the business sector's focus on routine elevator maintenance and repairs is becoming increasingly important.

"Shanghai's much-vaunted smart city and digital transition initiative and its large-scale urban regeneration represent a high degree of alignment with our entrepreneurial vision.

"In addition to our R&D center in Shanghai, we have established a cloud platform that connects tens of thousands of Schindler elevators and escalators. This platform allows us to collect real-time operating data and provide predictive maintenance recommendations using 5G, big data, and AI technologies. This allows us to monitor the health parameters of various components, thereby enhancing city safety."

The city has always been a hot place for investment, and its steadily improved investment environment would make it even more sought after.