SHENZHEN maintained a steady growth in the introduction and absorption of foreign capital in 2021. Nearly 6,000 foreign-invested enterprises were established in the city last year, an increase of 30 percent year on year, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday, quoting the commerce bureau.

The city’s actual use of foreign capital exceeded a record high of US$10 billion, up by more than 20 percent year on year, the report said.

Shenzhen has gained widespread recognition from international investors while attracting foreign capital.

In the second half of last year, Japanese firm Nomura Orient International Securities Co. Ltd. opened its third branch office on the Chinese mainland in Shenzhen, with the goal of using the office as a Nomura window in Shenzhen and tapping into the city’s market in wealth management, asset management, research and institutional business.

“Shenzhen is China’s innovation center for the science and technology industry, and a financial and trade logistics center, with a solid foundation and rapid development,” Toshiyasu Iiyama, executive managing director of Nomura Holdings Inc., was quoted as saying.

“By setting up a branch here, we will strive to become a business model for foreign-owned securities companies,” Iiyama said.

Credit Suisse Securities (China) Ltd. also expanded its operations in Shenzhen. In September last year, the company upgraded its Qianhai securities business department to a Shenzhen branch office, which was moved to Futian District, to further expand its business channels.

Shenzhen’s government support and encouraging policies are seen as a key factor in foreign investors speeding up  their business expansion in the city, according to the Daily.

Last year, the city’s commerce bureau issued measures for encouraging multinational corporations to set up headquarters enterprises in the city.

So far, 35 foreign-invested enterprises have been identified as headquarters enterprises of multinational corporations in Shenzhen.

Retail giant Walmart is one of these corporations. According to Luo Daming, senior director of corporate affairs in Walmart China, Shenzhen has long attached importance to foreign investment and constantly created a good business environment for multinational companies to invest in.

(Zhang Yu)