During the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the 2023 Beijing E-Town High-Quality Development Investment Promotion Conference & the Launching Ceremony of Beijing E-Town Global Partnership were held in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area (BDA).

Kong Lei, deputy secretary of the working committee and director of the management committee of the BDA, attended the conference and delivered a speech, which is as follows:

[Photo provided to beijingetown.com.cn]

On behalf of the working committee and the management committee of the BDA, I would like to express three heartfelt points of appreciation and commitments.

First, please allow me to extend my sincere gratitude. The collective journey we’ve embarked upon has become the most invaluable asset for both the BDA and the enterprises.

Over the three decades since the establishment of the BDA, 99 companies ranked in the Fortune Global 500 have settled here. The BDA has achieved the milestone of attracting over a thousand foreign-invested enterprises, reaching a total of 1,187, with actual foreign capital utilization surpassing $11 billion.

[Photo provided to beijingetown.com.cn]

The BDA has consistently prioritized the development of its four leading industries, namely, the new generation of information technology, biotechnology and the big health industry, high-end automobiles and new energy intelligent vehicles, and robotics and intelligent manufacturing.

Foreign-invested enterprises have played a dual role as witnesses and catalysts in the rapid development of the BDA. They are integral contributors to the diversified, cutting-edge, and integrated ecosystem of high-end industries.

The BDA has evolved from an industrial-focused development zone into an open ecological zone with innovation at its core.

In the first half of 2023, the BDA's regional GDP had reached 113.75 billion yuan, marking a 1.7 percent year-on-year increase. The characteristics of high-end, green, digital, and intelligent projects have become more prominent, with a stronger emphasis on the layout of foreign-invested regional headquarters and research and development centers.

Second, we endeavor to cultivate an international competitive business environment with high-end characteristics. We firmly believe that a high-quality business environment is our defining feature, and our unwavering priority is the comprehensive enhancement of institutionalized openness.

Beijing has always provided full support to the BDA in pioneering institutional innovation and conducting trial initiatives.

Over the past three years of the "Two Zones" construction, the BDA has actively engaged in the implementation and trials of aligning with high-standard international free trade agreements.

Moreover, the BDA has undertaken refinement and innovation in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit. Certainty in industrial ecology, high-quality services, and the business environment has emerged as the guiding theme in the BDA's opening to the outside world.

The BDA will embark on the innovative construction of a high-end bonded platform system. In collaboration with trade promotion centers and overseas investment promotion representative offices, we aim to establish overseas investment promotion centers in Germany, Singapore, the United States, countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, and BRICS countries.

This approach will consistently broaden our channels for cooperation and exchanges with key industries in relevant countries and regions. The goal is to facilitate resource sharing among enterprises, leverage complementary advantages, and jointly expand international markets, fostering the dual growth of both the goods and services trades.

Third, we are committed to delivering dedicated services by continuously enhancing the institutionalized, mechanized, and systematized level of enterprise services. Our focus is on fostering the optimal conditions under which various innovative enterprises, including foreign-invested ones, can thrive and develop rapidly within the BDA, so that the BDA will be positioned as the premier international destination for high-end innovation and entrepreneurship.

We are actively strengthening the supply of international, high-quality services, providing considerate services for foreign-invested enterprises, and creating a "Yizhuang platform" for sharing Chinese opportunities with the world. In addition, we will officially launch the '2+X' policy to support foreign enterprises.

We highly appreciate the trust and the innovation that foreign-invested enterprises have contributed to the BDA. We will keep a high level of openness to the outside world. We are committed to building a new institutionalized open highland and creating a business environment with high stability and strong expectations for foreign-invested enterprises.

Together, let's cultivate innovation resonance and win-win cooperation, embrace the future with stronger scientific and technological innovation, and build a better world enriched with industrial ecological vitality.