Companies hail support to set up headquarters

Beijing is offering support to foreign-funded service providers as it spearheads the country's opening-up of its service sector to global companies.

The nation's capital was approved to establish the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Services Sector in 2020, the first of its kind in the country.

The zone is expected to explore new ways to open and reform the service sector; develop new practices for coordinating the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province; and create new momentum for the high-quality development of Beijing, according to its website.

Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group has benefited from the zone's supportive policies.

"The company's Beijing projects have enjoyed supportive policies on aspects including land use, taxes, getting regulatory approval and recruitment of high-caliber overseas professionals," said Xie An, vice-president of ChiaTai Overseas Enterprise Realty Development, a subsidiary of CP. It built and manages CP Center, its Chinese headquarters.

"For example, the Beijing government helped CP Center solve difficulties in getting electricity during its construction," Xie said. He added that "the policies released by the demonstration zone have presented new investment opportunities for the company".

Another beneficiary is Canon Medical Systems (China), the medical equipment arm of the Japanese camera maker.

"Canon Medical Systems entered the Chinese market in 1975 and set up operations in Beijing's Chaoyang district," said Chen Nan, director of government affairs at Canon Medical Systems (China). "It can be said that the company has witnessed China's reform and opening-up from its outset and the expansion of opening-up in Beijing's service industries."

One of the company's latest Chinese projects is a diagnostic medical imaging center. It opened in Beijing at the end of 2019.

The center was "the first third-party independent diagnostic medical imaging facility in the city", meaning that there was no past experience to draw on when it came to registration and getting regulatory approval, Chen said.

"The commerce bureaus of Beijing and Chaoyang district contacted the health commissions of Beijing and Chaoyang district, and assisted the center in getting the registration certificate for large medical equipment and the permit to operate as a medical institution," Chen said.

Chen noted that the policies introduced by the demonstration zone have cemented the capital's position as a hub for high-tech industries and international communication. This is deeply relevant to the long-term operation and investment of international corporate headquarters in Beijing and other parts of the country.

China started to test a more open service sector in Beijing in 2015. Out of the $81.88 billion of foreign capital used in Beijing between 2015-19,$76.2 billion was used by the service sector, according to the Beijing government.