Nansha government establishes incentives for 'going global'

The local government of Nansha district in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has established awards and subsidies to encourage local enterprises to seize orders and expand in the overseas market, according to a senior official.

Awards for foreign trade growth will be up to 5 million yuan ($740,000) and subsidies of up to 500,000 yuan will be given for enterprises participating in professional exhibitions, according to Wei Min, executive deputy district chief of Nansha.

The awards were part of measures by the local government to stabilize foreign trade growth and support foreign investment, which were announced by the local government on Wednesday.

The measures were based on an overall plan to promote comprehensive cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao by further deepening the opening-up of Nansha, which was released in June by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

The plan stressed the importance of building a high-level opening-up portal in Nansha to provide comprehensive support for Chinese enterprises to "go global" and enhance the function of international shipping and logistics.

"Practical measures have been introduced to promote the development and opening up of Nansha and boost local companies' strength in foreign trade," Wei said.

Nansha's import and export value totaled more than 260 billion yuan in 2021, up 14.7 percent year-on-year according to data from the local government.

"Affected by the global foreign trade environment and policy adjustment for new industries, companies in Nansha are still facing pressure in import and export," Wei said.

In another development, rewards of 1 percent of the investment amount will be given in Nansha to newly established enterprises with an annual actual foreign capital of more than $1 million and existing enterprises with an annual capital increase of over $10 million.

"We are using foreign capital to develop a more open and complete industrial and supply chain," Wei said.

As of June, a total of 232 enterprises in the list of the world's top 500 companies have invested in Nansha.