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Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau: Better Public Service Brings More Foreign Investment of Higher Quality

Going “green” in Beijing can save a foreign investor a lot of time and money, but in this case, we’re talking about a green light to business rather than flora and fauna or grassy lawns.

Entering the office hall of the Beijing Municipal Green Channel for Investment Approval, one will hear the phones of the Green Channel service ringing briefly before being answered by a welcoming staff member who is trained to respond to queries about investing in Beijing. Using the Green Channel potential investors can easily shorten the process for investment approval.

Established in 2002, the Green Channel is an investment-assistance agency under the Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau (BIPB). It provides investment consultancy, one-stop company establishment services and other business services that can make an investor’s life in Beijing much easier.

By dialling the Green Channel investors can get answers about investment policies and rules and the investment environment; they can also get assistance in finding suitable projects and business partners.

One-stop establishment services have proved to be the most attractive function of Green Channel. Foreign companies totally new to China appreciate the Green Channel’s expertise in rules, regulations, procedures, and conventions; in fact, there is no better place to seek advice in handling matters such as document reviewing and submissions and renewals of registration certificates and business licenses. 

The Green Channel can also steer an investor in the right direction when difficulties or complaints arise. 

By the end of March 2008, Green Channel staffers had handled at least 55,876 inquiries, helped 305 foreign enterprises complete deals in Beijing involving capital valued at US$3.35 billion.

Zhang Jifu, director of BIPB, said, “The Green Channel is our main service for investors. It can provide a one-stop, butler-like service by integrating all of our governmental resources so that examinations and approval processes can be shortened. Over the years, the expertise of Green Channel has been enhanced. It has expanded its range of services, but it has also explored new ways of providing better service to domestic and foreign investors.”

By “enhanced expertise,” Zhang pointed to the separate service windows serving different investors. They include the Closer Economic Partnership Agreements between Beijing and Hong Kong and Macao, fixed-asset investments, foreign research and development institutions and Taiwan projects. A special window for investments from outside Beijing will soon be created.

Still, the Green Channel is just one platform the BIPB’s investment promotion tool chest. Other platforms include the Beijing Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, Beijing Foreign Investment Development Council, Beijing Federation of Trade Unions of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, and the Service Centre for Enterprises with Foreign Investment in Beijing.

“The Green Channel is an example of government’s public service function in the economic area; it represents one of the many ways we are trying to create a more service-oriented government,” Zhang said. “We want to minimize the tangible and intangible costs of investing in Beijing, especially the intangible costs. This has been repeatedly emphasized by Mayor Guo Jinlong.”

Investment promotion sounds like an abstract idea, but the real work requires concrete and down-to-earth effort.

A major part of investment promotion work is keeping the entire city in mind when introducing investors to the business environment. Maintaining the city’s competitive edge and thoroughly explaining the city’s policies and incentives help enhance the city’s image as a business centre around the world. Over the years, BIPB has organized many activities to promote the economic functions of Beijing.

It also seizes every opportunity to introduce the investment environment in Beijing through all kinds of media, including creating its own Web site and magazine.

It has hosted 11 Beijing–Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposiums to promote economic exchanges and trade between the two cities. By June 2007, foreign-invested companies from Hong Kong had concluded 8,859 agreements involving an investment of US$8.98 billion, making Hong Kong the top investor in Beijing.

The BIPB has also actively participated in the China International Fair for Investment & Trade, promoting the city’s investment environment and introducing key projects to potential investors through exhibitions, handouts and presentations.

Investment seminars have been held in targeted countries. The second “America, Canada Enterprises Investing in Beijing Seminar” held in New York, Chicago and Montreal in October 2007 was well received. During the campaign, more than 500 organizations participated, with most of them representing business institutions, corporate leaders and management. BIPB Deputy Director Zhou Weimin gave presentations and answered questions from enterprises in hosting countries, showcasing Beijing’s economic image, investment environment, competitive edge, focus of development and the Olympic opportunities.

Such activities have also been held in Japan, Korea, European Union, Australia and many other countries.

Through efforts of the BIPB, cooperative relationships have been established with more than 100 governmental agencies, economic and trade institutions and enterprises in many foreign countries.

But the work of BIPB involves more than just attracting foreign investment. The investment sought by Beijing must be targeted in its use to serve Beijing’s development needs.

The Beijing Municipal Government plans today are steering foreign investment toward the producers’ services industry, cultural and creative industry and toward the high-end manufacturing industry. The desire is to attract more large enterprises, both domestic and international, to establish headquarters in Beijing.

The Industrial Promotion Division was established in 2007 to promote investment in key industries in Beijing.

An animation and cartoon industry promotion policy will soon be revealed by the BIPB. It will include a series of policy privileges, such as encouraging and supporting venture capital to invest in the industry, granting incentives to products that have won State-level awards, boosting the growth of industrial bases, supporting exports of self-developed animation and cartoon products by providing tax benefits, and cultivating talent to serve the animation and cartoon industry.

Beijing has designated industrial clusters according to their industrial bases and advantages. Aside from introducing foreign investments to suitable clustered areas, the BIPB maintains close contact with business invitation agencies in districts and suburban counties to keep them abreast of evolving needs and requirements.

For some industrial clusters that fall in the category of Beijing’s development focus, the BIPB exerts special efforts in helping them to find more resources.

In March 2008, the BIPB signed agreements with Gaobeidian, a cluster of the cultural and creative industry, to promote a series of projects in the area through its global channel and platform.

The work of the BIPB can even be focused on a single project. A project database has been established. Key projects, their introductions and contact information can be easily found on the BIPB Web site.

Both investors and project leaders can log onto the Web site to download information, to get forms to publicize their investing intentions or for project information. The information can be added to the project database after confirmation. 

For key projects, the BIPB has targeted business promotion to match them with potential investors. In this way, it decreases the risks for both sides.

Since the BIPB was established, investment in Beijing has grown apace: Beijing’s foreign investment in 2005, 2006 and 2007 was US$3.5 billion, US$4.5 billion and US$5 billion, compared with US$2 billion for 2003.

The quality of foreign investment has improved along with the growing monetary sums, and the investment is being better used. More than 80 percent of the foreign investment in Beijing in 2007 went to the services industry, with about 50 percent going to the producers services industry. Logistics, information services, and high-tech services all enjoyed an estimated 50-percent increase in contracted investment year-on-year.

The booming cultural and creative industry has also become a hot area of investment. In 2007, 447 companies with foreign investments came to settle in Beijing with a realized investment of about US$880 million, a year-on-year increase of 62.9 percent.

Seven more of the world’s top-500 enterprises came to Beijing in 2007, including Apple and Vodafone.

Despite the rosy picture, Beijing also faces lots of challenges in foreign investment utilization. Rising countries in the region are becoming competitors for available funding. Vietnam is showing more advantages in the manufacturing industry; India’s IT industry development has been eye-catching, sharing a big spoon of IT outsourcing business from the West.

“Although we are in a favourable situation with our foreign investment attraction, we cannot rest on our laurels; we must take more initiative in attracting investments  suiting Beijing’s development strategy,” said Zhang. “And we have to seize the opportunities that come with international capital flows and services and industrial transfers, create our own unique competitive edges in the areas of resources, talent, policy as well as efficient governmental public services.”

北京市投资促进局

——投资北京的“首访之站”

文/薛京晶

打造投资信息集散中心

投资促进是各国政府吸引外商直接投资所进行的一系列营销活动。它一方面是指“引进来”，即通常所说的招商引资，同时还要为“引进来”的企业服务好；另一方面还包括帮助本地企业“走出去”，这些统称为投资促进。

北京市投资促进局是北京市人民政府直属的负责全市招商引资和投资促进工作的官方机构，承担着市政府赋予的对境内外投资者进行全方位、专业化服务的职责。

北京市投资促进局的前身是1988年4月成立的北京市外商投资服务中心，当时主要为境外投资者在京投资和发展提供中介服务。1996年1月，北京市外商投资服务中心和北京市投资咨询服务中心合并为北京市投资服务中心，成为代表北京市政府为境内外投资者和外商投资企业提供综合服务的官方机构。2002年1月，北京市投资服务中心设立了北京市人民政府投资项目审批绿色通道（以下简称“绿色通道”），提供“一站受理、全程代办审批注册登记手续”服务，进一步方便了外商来京投资。

由于工作范围的扩大，2002年12月，在北京市投资服务中心的基础上成立了北京市投资促进局，旨在扩大和完善为中外投资者服务的职能，进一步改善投资环境，这也是北京市建设服务型政府的一项重大举措。

2006年12月，北京市投资促进局参照公务员法管理，被完全纳入政府管理体系，使投资促进工作更好地体现政府的规划和战略，并且利用五个平台，即北京市人民政府投资项目审批绿色通道工作平台、北京外商投资企业协会（内设北京市外资企业投诉中心）和北京国际投资促进会工作平台、外企党建工作平台、外资企业工会联合会工作平台以及北京市外商投资企业服务中心工作平台完成对北京的投资促进，通过“促环境、促产业、促区域、促项目”为北京经济发展做出了自己的贡献。

近几年来，“网上审批”、“一站式办公”、“电子政府”等一系列新名词的出现，见证着北京市政府办事效率在一件件实事中的提速。在此基础上，北京市投资促进局局长张吉福认为：“优化投资环境，仅仅做到提高办事效率这一点还不够。北京市的招商引资还应该提高投资质量，调整投资结构，促进投资发展，要调动起一切社会资源以及各种生产力要素，吸引各种投资者——不仅是来自外国的投资者，还包括中国各地区的投资者。并且变‘招商引资’为‘招商选资’，优先考虑那些符合北京产业发展方向的企业。”

如今，北京市投资促进局已经连续11年承办北京·香港经济合作研讨洽谈会和中国投资贸易洽谈会北京团的组团参展工作；搭建了一系列招商引资工作平台，开展了对美国、日本、韩国、欧洲和澳大利亚的专业定向招商活动；与美、日、韩、德、英、法等100余个国家的政府部门、经贸机构以及知名企业建立了合作关系；承担着“绿色通道”的日常工作，建立了与政府各部门审批窗口和各区县“一站式服务”大厅的交流联动机制，累计接受咨询者数量近6万人次，代理了摩托罗拉、IBM、爱普生、爱立信、东方广场、凯德置地、北京现代汽车有限公司等近千个投资项目，项目总金额达到33.53亿美元；为1000余家在京的外资企业提供人事代理服务，开通了“外投人才在线”专业人才招聘网站；组织了1999至2007年在京外商投资企业对政府部门的测评工作；在2003年，成功承办了由中国国家商务部、北京市人民政府、中国投资促进机构联席会议和世界银行联合主办的首届“国际投资促进论坛”，并且此后每年组织实施《北京市外商投资企业高级人才购房购车专项奖励暂行办法》的初审和承办工作；建立起北京市招商引资项目库。

“绿色通道”开启投资畅通之路

2007年的数字显示，共有4亿美元外资经由“绿色通道”投向北京的经济建设。从外资的主要流向来看，主要落在生产性服务业、服务贸易及国际服务外包三大领域。全市新增跨国公司地区总部5家，投资性公司6家。从区域上看来，外商在城市功能拓展区和发展新区加大投资力度的趋势日趋明显。

作为北京市政府专门为境内外投资者来京投资提供综合服务的机构，北京市投资促进局充分发挥了“绿色通道”宣传引导投资方向的职能。据张吉福局长介绍，“绿色通道”设有台资项目审批绿色通道、CEPA咨询服务窗口、外资研发机构咨询服务窗口、固定资产投资咨询服务窗口等机构，为企业提供免费的政策咨询和手续代办服务。只要走进“绿色通道”的办公室， 向工作人员讲明投资意向之后，便会有投资意向领域的专业人员负责接待。由此，投资者也就开始享受从咨询、立项直至报批手续等专业化、便捷式的服务。

作为北京市政府专门设立的投资促进机构，北京市投资促进局建立了“北京国际投资促进网”，与市、区县两级审批机构、投资促进机构的信息网联通，形成投资促进信息系统；通过“绿色通道”、“外商投资企业投诉中心”以及其它服务机构和工作平台，构建了对投资者的“一站式服务”，包括前期投资咨询服务、中期审批代办服务、后期经营保障服务；与全市18个区县的“一站式”办公大厅共同形成了市和区县两级投资促进的服务系统。另外，还连续多年组织开展了外资企业对政府部门的测评活动、市领导与跨国公司领导的座谈会、政府与企业之间的季谈会等，很好地疏通了企业向政府反映意见的渠道。

与此同时，北京市投资促进局的招商引资工作还延伸到了全球众多的国家和地区。2007年，由北京市投资促进局联合多家国际机构举办的“金融服务业及创意产业合作研讨洽谈会”和“商务推介会”分别在英国伦敦、德国法兰克福、法国巴黎三大城市亮相，引起了欧洲企业界的极大关注。洽谈会共吸引了来自金融服务、创意产业、会展业、旅游业等领域的500余家企业和机构参加，多家企业当场达成投资北京的合作意向。法国SFP公司、ART公司等国际文化企业更是瞄准了北京目前蓬勃兴起的文化创意产业，准备近期赴怀柔区就影视动漫创作、拍摄、制作多领域的合作进行实地考察。而英国、法国的8家企业和机构早已迫不及待地排好了组团造访通州的时间表。

将“服务形式”不断延伸

利用外资的良好趋势不仅增加了在北京投资的外商数量，而且对促进就业、发展外贸、带动相关产业发展做出了积极贡献，同时在更新管理理念、提升技术水平等方面都具有重要的意义，对于提升北京外向型经济发展水平、扩大北京的国际影响力方面都有着不可替代的作用。

张吉福局长对此深有感触：“近日，北京市市长郭金龙提出了企业发展的显性成本与隐性成本的概念，指出北京要利用最低的‘隐性成本’吸引高端项目在北京市投资。”

“郭市长提出的观点对我们有着很大的指导意义。我们都知道，投资促进的主要目标是通过降低投资成本和风险，促进区外资本流入本区域进行投资。由于资本具有稀缺性，投资促进就是市场经济的必然产物。随着全球化的深入发展，各国和地区间引资竞争日趋激烈，投资促进将在一定时期内长期存在，并且必将发挥越来越重要的作用。同时，由于投资促进提供公共产品的性质，决定了它还是政府的一项公共经济服务职能，而且投资促进机构必须以政府为依托。因此，在面对2008年国际资本、产业转移的高峰这一良好形势，北京市投资促进局不仅要更大程度的推进北京市的投资促进工作，更要将良好的投资服务引入政府，将资本引入北京。” 张局长进一步解释说。

在2008奥运之年，北京市投资促进局继续以“服务是立局之本”为发展宗旨，不断丰富国际、国内两种招商引资资源；构建工作、服务、信息三套系统；围绕“促环境、促产业、促区域、促项目”四条主线；继续完善五大工作平台，推动北京市的投资促进工作再上新台阶。