Chinese Enterprises "Fuel" European Economy

Recently, the China trade daily reporter learned that in recent years, Chinese enterprises' investment in Britain has increased rapidly, and the cumulative investment has increased from US $1 billion 200 million in 2010 to about US $23 billion in 2018. Britain has adopted a more open attitude towards foreign investment, and the deepening of RMB internationalization has provided an important boost for Chinese enterprises to invest in the UK.

The reporter learned from the representative office of CCPIT in China that Chinese enterprises are showing a diversified trend of investment in the UK. Chinese enterprises have invested in the UK from the earliest petrochemical, manufacturing, banking and other industries to the current telecommunications, medicine, infrastructure, real estate, logistics, food and even nuclear power and cultural and creative industries.

Zhejiang's Shanghai Hangzhou Ningbo Expressway, Jiangxi copper, China National Aviation, Datang Power Generation and Sinopec 5 large and medium-sized enterprises listed on the London Stock Exchange. During the visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Britain in 2015, China National Nuclear Power Group and the French Electric Power Group signed the investment agreement on the British nuclear power project, and China and Britain agreed to cooperate in the construction of the hinterkok nuclear power station. In March 2017, the main project of the hencklee corner project started construction.

At present, China's investment in the UK remains high. According to the investment statistics of British investors, China's investment in Hongkong (including the Hongkong region) in 2017 was 11 billion 330 million pounds, which was lower than the total investment of 16 billion 855 million in 2017. In addition to real estate, Chinese capital has also gained a number of strong British sectors such as financial insurance, high-end manufacturing, health care and education. Since 2018, excellent Chinese enterprises represented by millet and seabed have begun to enter the British market.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, more than 500 Chinese funded enterprises have settled in the UK. According to data from CPA, more than 1500 Chinese funded enterprises (Institutions) have been invested in the UK, covering financial, trade, telecommunications, high-end manufacturing, infrastructure, medicine, shipping, energy and other major areas.

Why do more and more Chinese enterprises turn their sights on Britain? It is understood that Britain is the fifth largest economy in the world and one of the most attractive countries in the world. In the 2019 "most suitable countries and regions for business" published by Forbes magazine, Britain has topped the list for second consecutive years, ranking number one in the world. According to the latest data from the European Commission, Britain is the first to attract foreign investment (FDI) in Europe.

Insiders told reporters that Britain's economic development advantage is very obvious, domestic consumption potential and huge market size. The degree of trade and investment facilitation in Britain is also very high. According to the world bank's ranking of business difficulty in 190 countries in 2019, the UK ranks ninth among the most vulnerable countries. The OECD statistics show that the UK has the least entrepreneurial barriers in the world, ranked second in the world in terms of product market regulation, and ranked third in the world in terms of trade and investment convenience, and Britain is the most convenient country to do business in Europe. According to the statistics of the world bank, it takes only 13 days to establish and carry out business in the UK, while the rest of Europe needs 32 days on average. In addition, lower tax rates, flexible labor market, the world's leading innovation capability, relatively stable political environment, convenient property registration, more sound infrastructure, the world's top talent factors, and innate language superiority have all become the main reasons why the UK is very popular with investors.

In fact, the attention of Chinese enterprises has not only stayed in Britain. The 2019 annual report on the development of Chinese enterprises in Europe, released in October 2019, shows that although the number of enterprises in major EU countries is still smaller than that in the United States and Japan, the overall growth rate has been increasing rapidly in recent years. From 2013 to 2018, the number of Chinese enterprises maintained a compound growth rate of over 10%, which was even as high as 25% in Germany. It can be seen that Chinese enterprises are accelerating their entry into EU countries as rising stars, and are expected to play a key role in the future EU foreign exchange system.

According to the above report, from the perspective of industrial development, Chinese enterprises can promote the upgrading of the European industrial chain in an all-round way. From the perspective of the well-being of the people, Chinese enterprises are increasingly integrated into the local community to contribute to the development of the community. From the perspective of technology development, Chinese enterprises have invested a lot of funds in establishing research institutions and investing in Europe, promoting research and training among enterprises, and promoting the research level of the frontier technology in the European Union. Tencent relies on its leading cloud computing and AI technology to provide BMW with an advanced and complete technology chain running through the whole process of automatic driving research and development. The enterprises represented by HUAWEI, through the development of the "future seed" plan, help all countries to cultivate talents in the field of ICT. Since the launch of the program, more than 1347 students from 31 European countries have participated. China's leading enterprises in various industries are promoting the innovation and development of EU countries with their own advanced technology.

CEO Denis Depoux, vice chairman of the Roland Begg global board of supervisors and greater China, said that these EU enterprises are playing a new role in the EU's "combustion improver". They have injected more vitality into the EU countries and pushed the EU industry, enterprises, communities and talents to a higher level. "We need to realize that Chinese enterprises have made great progress in the development of the European Union, and Chinese and European enterprises share common goals in the general direction. Facing the future, the two sides still have great potential and cooperation space, so as to fully release the benefits of win-win cooperation.