Kunming sees roaring investment

Kunming has seen progress in refining its industrial structure and business climate, which in turn, has attracted a remarkable increase in investments.

The capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan province, Kunming, reported its remarkable achievements in attracting investment in the first half of this year, having secured 134.6 billion yuan($19.61 billion) in funds from outside the city, up 46.67 percent year-on-year.

This couldn’t have been achieved without its efforts to refine its business climate and form a modern industrial system, which was achieved with a balanced mix of new industries and the upgrading of traditional ones.

The city now boasts a modern industrial system that is dominated by the modern service industry, based on modern agriculture, and supported by an advanced manufacturing industry.

The added value of the service sector increased from 168.77 billion yuan ($26.3 billion) in 2012 to 460.17 billion yuan in 2021, becoming an important engine for economic growth of the city.

As one pillar industry in the service sector, the tourism industry saw its total revenue surge from 42.67 billion yuan in 2012 to 273.36 billion yuan in 2019, making up 17 percent of the city’s GDP.

Three 100-billion-level industrial clusters of new energy batteries, rare metals, and information manufacturing have also taken shape.

The region’s agriculture also boasts robust industries, such as flowers, vegetables, forest fruits, and traditional Chinese medicine.

In 2021, the trading volume of fresh-cut flowers in Dounan exceeded 10.26 billion stems, with the trading volume reaching 11.24 billion yuan. The scale ranked second in the world and first in Asia.

The competitiveness of industrial enterprises has been significantly increased by innovation-driven development.

To transform industries through scientific and technological innovation, Kunming has set up six scientific and technological innovation centers for biomedicine, 15 State-level enterprise technology centers, and several key laboratories. In 2021, there were 1,427 high-tech enterprises in Kunming, accounting for 69.4 percent of the province.

The first quarter of this year saw a rocketing investment growth of 56.8 percent in industry and information technology.

In the second quarter of this year, 291 major industrial projects, with a total investment of 100.3 billion yuan, were launched in Kunming, which represents a significant increase when compared with the first quarter.

The business environment has undergone significant new changes, and the efficiency of government services has been comprehensively improved to create a business environment that is benchmarking top place in Yunnan province, and is first-class in China.

The Shanshan Lithium battery project took just 3 months from its negotiation to implementation, and the Yuneng New Energy project took only 110 days from its breaking ground to operation, demonstrating "Kunming speed".

At the same time, the transformation, and upgrading of Kunming's industrial sectors are accelerating and improving quality of industrial development.

With efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of the industrial zones, in 2021, the main business income of 13 industrial parks in the city exceeded one trillion yuan.

The main business income of Kunming High-tech Zone and the Kunming Economic Development Zone exceeded 250 billion yuan. The main business income of Anning Industrial Park and Wuhua Industrial Park exceeded 100 billion yuan.