Since December, hundreds of Chinese city and company executives have traveled to Asia and Europe to attract foreign investment as local governments struggle to meet development and job goals.
According to their social media posts and three people who met some of them, district officials, municipal and provincial supervisors, and local companies are crossing the border more often.
Despite three years of “zero-COVID” restrictions that hurt China’s economy, officials traveled to Hong Kong and Paris within days of the restrictions being relaxed.
The individuals who visited Chinese officials in Hong Kong said their eagerness shows the strain local governments face to stimulate development while carrying $9 trillion in debt.
“There’s definite pressure on every level of government to reach high expectations,” said Erik Yim, an Asian financial hub legislator representing Chinese firms.
Yim noted that geopolitical and commercial concerns with the US made delegates focus more on the rest of the globe.
Last week at China’s Boao Conference, commonly called Asia’s Davos, Premier Li Qiang declared the world’s No. 2 economy is “open for business” and promised to attract international investment and assist private firms.
China set a lower growth target of 5% for 2023 than the 5.5% it missed last year because of COVID-19 lockdowns, but it hopes to generate a million more employment than in 2022.
Two Hong Kong businesspeople who requested anonymity said authorities they met were keener than ever to win funding for ports, biotech, art, and sports projects.
“China needs foreign finance to grow,” one stated. “I’ve never had so many niche-level folks contact out in such a short span.”
The other executive and Yim said they visited eight to 10 Chinese official engagements daily.
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