Citywide investment building momentum
Beijing launched the construction of 116 major projects by February, signaling a good start to the city’s investment in 2024, a senior official said in early March.
According to the plan, a total of 160 major projects will begin in the first quarter of this year and the city’s investment is expected to increase 5 percent during the period, said Yang Xiuling, director of the Beijing Commission of Development and Reform.
“We are confident of achieving this target given the current situation,” Yang said.
These projects include a branch of Beijing Subway Line 1, the BOE Hospital in Fangshan district and the transformation of the venue used to host the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Shijingshan district.
Different from traditional medical models, the BOE Hospital is supported by the internet of things and aims to create a new tiered diagnosis and treatment system, said Zhang Wei, senior vice-president of BOE Technology Group.
The project is set to be completed in 2026 and will have a capacity of 1,500 beds, according to Zhang.
Beijing has hosted numerous investment promotions during the past few years, which achieved fruitful results, local officials said.
At the 26th Beijing Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium held in November, the city signed contracts for 34 projects worth $9.43 billion. It also reaped 39 projects valued at 60.8 billion yuan ($8.44 billion) during the 2023 Invest Beijing Global Summit, which for the first time was held as a part of the Zhongguancun Forum in May.
On Tuesday, Piao Xuedong, director of the Beijing Commerce Bureau, released the Global Service Partner Program during a sideline event of the Invest in China campaign held in Beijing. The city plans to recruit partners globally for the nine major service industries of its “two zones” — the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Piao said.
The service partners will be offered eight services including policy matching, consulting and highlevel communications, he said.
The commerce bureau also performed an awards ceremony during the event for nine Beijing-based companies which were certified as regional headquarters of multinational enterprises. These included BMW (China) Automotive Trading, Volvo Automotive Finance (China) and Varian Medical Systems (China).
Currently, Beijing is home to the regional headquarters of 244 multinational companies.
This year, the two zones have set a goal of collecting 7,700 new projects, including 800 foreign-funded ones. The combined investment is estimated to reach 970 billion yuan.
In addition, city authorities have planned several projects this year for post-disaster rebuilding, urban governance and the transfer of Beijing’s noncapital functions.
An array of water projects will be launched to establish a robust flood control system, Yang said.
Beijing was hit by a heavy rainstorm in late July, causing widespread flooding and significant damage. “We will upgrade facilities in flood-prone areas, including transportation, communication and water drainage to enhance public services,” she added.
As for urban governance, the city will demolish 2,000 hectares of illegal buildings, vacate 1,500 hectares of land and create 220 hectares of green spaces, according to Yang.