Once a year, Shanghai once again enters “CIIE mode.”

Investment promotion teams from across the country have long since made thorough preparations for their tasks.

Hunan has launched the Yangtze River Delta Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange, known as “Shanghai Investment Promotion Week.”

Through roundtable discussions with foreign-invested enterprises and industry-specific matchmaking sessions, multiple investment promotion teams are visiting companies to negotiate specific projects.

Jiangxi has prioritized business matchmaking, sharing information on participating exhibitor executives with sub-delegations from 11 prefecture-level cities and the Ganjiang New Area.

Leading enterprises in Guangdong will announce orders and cooperation needs and engage in one-on-one exchanges with companies from the Yangtze River Delta.

For example, industry-specific sessions for cities such as Guangzhou (artificial intelligence), Foshan (power equipment), and Dongguan (computing power) have also been included in the agenda for the Shanghai outreach.

When it comes to investment promotion, every region has a clear plan regarding which companies to target, whom to meet with, and what specific needs to focus on during negotiations.

For teams that still have gaps in their annual investment promotion targets, this “task list” is crucial.

How can we identify more projects worth pursuing? How can we establish connections with company executives?

The China International Import Expo (CIIE), by providing a platform for face-to-face exchanges, has opened a window for “discussing development together.”

The GuChuan Group is returning to the CIIE, showcasing at Booth 2.2A1-08 in the [Trade in Services Pavilion].

01 With Investment Promotion Tasks in Mind: Company Information Is Not the Same as Projects

The CIIE has become a platform for connecting with high-quality projects and attracting investment.

Some time ago, investment promotion teams from various regions had already identified target companies and arranged their itineraries for meetings in Shanghai.

Shanghai’s Qingpu District has gone so far as to specify exactly which companies to prioritize contacting.

Prior to the event, they screened nearly 900 key exhibitors, identified 100 priority companies for engagement, and implemented a “one plan per jurisdiction” approach—reaching out to companies in advance to secure negotiation opportunities.

Huzhou, Zhejiang, hosted a special session on foreign investment in Shanghai titled “Sharing the Future with Huzhou,” featuring thematic presentations and matchmaking focused on smart connected new energy vehicles and intelligent robots.

During the CIIE, companies make a concentrated appearance, and face-to-face opportunities are rare. Investment promotion teams that still have gaps in their annual targets are especially eager to use this trip to uncover more project leads.

Even when industrial sectors align, it is essential to gain a deeper understanding of a company’s investment plans. Are they planning to expand production? Would they consider establishing operations in other locations? What kind of production space do they need?

There is no shortage of channels for finding corporate information today. However, this does not necessarily mean these are projects with concrete investment plans. Some channels essentially provide nothing more than a list of companies and a set of contact details.

Therefore, when expanding project channels at the CIIE, one cannot focus solely on how much corporate information can be obtained.

Do these companies have genuine investment plans? Do the projects align with our investment priorities and local conditions? Can we contact the project leaders directly?

During this year’s CIIE, many investment promotion professionals made a special trip to Booth 2.2A1-08 in the [Trade in Services Pavilion] to expand their project pipelines and discuss investment cooperation.

The projects on the investment promotion network are supported by GuChuan’s long-term accumulation of over 1.42 million corporate site selection records—a database that continues to grow daily. At the same time, the platform also accepts investment site selection plans submitted independently by companies through “XuanNaiEr.”

For industrial parks, this accumulated data provides a resource foundation for expanding project sources. However, identifying specific needs within the data that can be matched requires further work.

In its project screening process, the Investment Promotion Network focuses on criteria such as industry, preferred locations, and investment scale. Before a project is listed, the product operations team communicates directly with the enterprise to confirm the validity of its site selection needs and then refines the project information.

For example, in the case of an equipment manufacturing project on the Investment Promotion Network, the company’s reason for site selection was to expand production by leasing a branch factory. The preferred regions included multiple cities in Jiangsu and Anhui, with a floor area of 10,000–15,000 square meters. The company also specified requirements such as a lifting height of 8 meters, a span of 24 meters, and overhead cranes with a capacity of 5–10 metric tons.

This step determines how government-run industrial parks will proceed with outreach once they receive a company’s investment requests.

For investment promotion specialists and their teams, understanding the company’s genuine investment needs provides a solid foundation for continued communication with the project lead, enabling them to determine which projects to pursue and what proposals to prepare.

02 Establishing Contact with Projects: Clarifying Needs Before Negotiations

During the China International Import Expo (CIIE), one-on-one meetings and government-enterprise forums were also included in the itineraries of delegations from various regions visiting Shanghai.

With companies gathering for the event, investment promotion officers are eager to meet them and, even more so, hope to identify potential partners for continued project discussions following these exchanges.

Shanghai’s Fengxian District will conduct one-on-one meetings and promote industrial policies during the expo, and will incorporate the classification of investment intentions and follow-up visits into its post-event work.

Fujian also plans to host investment promotion forums for multinational corporations to gather feedback and suggestions from companies, and to deepen investment cooperation through two-way exchanges between government and business.

The investment promotion network not only provides projects with investment intent but also initiates invitations to companies; member users can connect with project leaders via User Link phone calls. Once a project worth pursuing is identified, specific investment requirements are discussed with the company.

When initiating an invitation, the project card displayed during online communication provides a reference for the discussion. Information such as the type of site the company is seeking, the regions under consideration, and the required floor area can be matched to the issues currently being discussed by both parties.

This feedback helps investment promotion specialists further assess whether local conditions are suitable and determine what information to provide to the company next.

Connecting via User Link also provides an alternative communication channel for gaining a deeper understanding of the project. With the company’s site selection priorities in mind, investment promotion specialists can continue discussions regarding the investment plan and the park’s capacity to accommodate the project.

After contacting the company’s representative, investment promotion specialists can gain further insight into the project’s current progress. Is the company still discussing investment proposals, or has it already begun comparing potential locations? Which details have been finalized, and which still require internal deliberation? These factors will all influence the depth of the next round of discussions.

If the company wishes to learn more about the park, you can discuss which additional materials to provide first and whether to arrange a site visit; if there are matters requiring coordination, you can also clarify who will provide feedback and when to follow up.

For investment promotion professionals visiting Shanghai on a specific mission, establishing contact with the company’s project lead is the key to project follow-up.

03 Build a Network of Corporate Contacts and Maintain Connections After the Event

From exchanges at the exhibition halls to industry tours, the networking opportunities provided by the CIIE are extending beyond the event itself.

Hangzhou plans to organize events such as “Italian Biopharmaceutical Companies Visit Hangzhou” and specialized matchmaking sessions for the new materials industry to further link corporate exchanges with local industries.

Shanghai has also launched investment itineraries such as the Xuhui West Bund AI Tour and the Minhang Innovative Healthcare Tour, inviting exhibitors and visitors to explore and exchange ideas during their time at the fair to learn about local industries, companies, and business platforms.

These arrangements also provide investment promoters with opportunities to maintain contact with companies. Whether scheduling a follow-up meeting or inviting a company for a site visit, it ultimately requires staying in touch with the specific contacts they’ve previously communicated with.

For investment promoters who come to the CIIE with specific objectives, once they get to know a company, they hope this connection will prove useful in their daily work. Whether there is a current project requiring discussion, new developments in a park’s supporting facilities, or a future need to understand the company’s strategic direction, they now have a designated contact to reach out to.

On the investment promotion network, investment promoters can send their business cards to companies online. Once the company accepts the card, both parties complete the exchange and obtain each other’s contact information. Details such as name, company, and job title ensure that both parties clearly know who they are communicating with and who to contact in the future.

Received business cards can be managed in the business card folder. User Link also supports exchanging and managing business cards and provides a dedicated address book that centrally displays contacts, making it convenient for investment promotion professionals to locate them during their daily work.

On the Investment Promotion Network, by maintaining ongoing contact with companies in key industries, investment promoters will gradually get to know more corporate contacts. For follow-up communication regarding current projects, they can reach out to people they’ve spoken with before; when seeking to understand a company’s new needs or explore new cooperation opportunities in the future, they’ll also have an additional channel for building a pipeline of project resources.