Initiatives launched

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal, whose China headquarters is located in Shanghai, cited a number of initiatives launched by the local government that helped advance the company's development in the country and achieve 27 percent year-on-year growth last year.

Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oreal North Asia Zone and CEO of L'Oreal China, said, for example, that Shanghai's Pudong New Area launched a pilot policy for imports of non-special-use cosmetics.

"L'Oreal acquired the first pilot enterprise user account and product registration certificate, reducing approval time from three months to five working days," he said.

Megarbane added that with the policy accelerating sales operations and new product launches, L'Oreal is now introducing more than one new product in China every day on average.

Cytiva, formerly known as GE Healthcare Life Sciences, also stands to enjoy streamlined government services to help this newly-established spinoff better navigate its way in China.

Yu Lihua, Cytiva's general manager in China, said she originally expected a complicated process to register as a stand-alone company, involving the completion of commercial operating, licensing and tax registration procedures.

"However, we are extremely impressed by the transparency and efficiency of the administration of Lingang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. The local government officials truly position themselves as the enablers of companies," Yu said.

In just 24 hours, Cytiva completed procedures to apply for a business license for continuous operation. Local authorities also organized one-on-one follow-up roundtable sessions for policy consultations.

China's Foreign Investment Law has helped foreign-funded enterprises buck the downward trend to attract foreign capital during challenging times.

Zang Tiewei, a spokesman for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said that since the law took effect on Jan 1 last year, foreign investment to China had risen by 4.5 percent year-on-year in dollar terms, reaching a record high.

The nation had become the largest recipient of foreign capital worldwide, and 51,000 new foreign-funded companies were established in China last year, Zang said.

The law also provides foreign capital with easier market access and reduces restrictions for investors. Last year, nearly 9,000 joint ventures were set up between foreign investors and Chinese nationals.

United States industrial conglomerate Honeywell is one such beneficiary.

The company found that it was a perfect fit for the Chinese government's parallel agendas to welcome foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, while attracting advanced industries to central and western areas of the country.

Steven Lien, president of Honeywell China, said, "To ride the smart manufacturing trend, we entered into strategic cooperation last year with Shang Gong Group Co (SGSB Group), a leader in China's sewing machine industry.

"Honeywell's technologies in the internet of things and automation solutions can empower SGSB Group to achieve smart manufacturing and smart logistics warehousing management."

Another eye-catching investment by Honeywell was the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary, Huosheng Industrial Technology Co, in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, where the pandemic hit China hard at the start of last year.

Lien said the launch was possible due to the close cooperation and support received from the Wuhan government.

"With this investment, Honeywell continues to promote technological innovation to meet the demands of the mass-and mid-markets in China's central and western areas," he said.

Standard Chartered Bank China also invested in Wuhan, where it opened a sub-branch after the 76-day lockdown was lifted last year.

In addition, the bank is looking at opportunities arising from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, internationalization of the renminbi, green finance and the Belt and the Road Initiative, among others.

Jerry Zhang, executive vice-chairman and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank China, which invested $40 million last year in setting up a Greater Bay Area center in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, said, "We will make continuous investment in China to deliver on opportunities presented by the country's opening-up."

She referred to a measure that allows international institutions to take part in interest rate derivatives trading on the China Interbank Bond Market, or CIBM, after they sign the International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement.

"From a legal perspective, this measure effectively cleared the hurdle for international institutions to make derivatives deals on the CIBM," Zhang said.

Standard Chartered China has helped several international investors complete interest rate swap deals on the CIBM, "making our bank one of the most active settlement agency banks for the CIBM in this part of the world", she added.