Beijing municipal government has attached equal importance to "bringing in" and "going global" in the past five years, with the outbound investment totaling US$39 billion. Of the sum, a total direct investment of US$1.66 billion were made by Beijing-based enterprises in 31 countries along the Belt and Road.
The numbers were announced by Tan Xuxiang, director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, on Oct. 24 as he was attending the two-day 22nd Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium held in Beijing.
Tan said that in the past five years Beijing has vigorously promoted infrastructure interconnection, capacity cooperation and the construction of major overseas business parks in countries and regions along the Belt and Road.
Beijing encourages enterprises to enter the whole industrial chain, including participating in planning and design, equipment procurement, construction and operation management, Tan said.
The government promotes the joint development of overseas contract projects and import and export trade by encouraging major technical standards to go global. Beijing also supports enterprises to participate in constructing key projects such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Maldives, the 10,000 Villages Connection Project in Africa , the Airport City Manchester in the UK, and the Expressway Project in Indonesia.
Additionally, Beijing is advancing the construction of overseas business parks. By cooperating with "Belt and Road" countries, the city has established a number of science parks and incubation bases in these countries, including the non-ferrous metal industrial park in northern Tajikistan, the TusPark complexes in Cambridge and Newcastle in the U.K., and the China-Italy Design Innovation Hub.
As for the next step, Tan said that the government would establish a unified Belt and Road project database to coordinate relevant policies and funds. Beijing will work to improve the two-way investment promotional platform and establish the international capacity cooperation service center, providing comprehensive services for enterprises to "go global and bring in." He said the government will also promote the establishment of an international business settlement center, and explore a joint mechanism for resolving and mitigating commercial disputes involving foreign parties.
