The article "How to Become a Master of Investment Promotion: Insights from a Veteran in the Field," published last week, has been shared and saved by nearly a thousand investment promotion professionals.

It’s clear that during this critical period of economic recovery, “mastering the fundamentals” remains crucial for investment promotion professionals.

Today, we have compiled insights from this “veteran expert” with 28 years of investment promotion experience regarding the structure of investment promotion PowerPoint presentations. After all, a clear strategy is the first step toward success.

Note: The text-based PPT is from the 2021 Director’s Live Stream event. For the latest information on the development zone, please refer to the most recent official data.

The Fundamentals of Investment Promotion: Presenting PowerPoint Presentations

Visiting potential investors and introducing the local situation is the most common scenario for investment promotion professionals. Many bring along an investment handbook, a set of PPT slides, and a promotional video.

But an excellent investment promotion professional would never limit themselves to just these three items.

For example, they should carry at least two investment brochures: one general overview and one tailored to a specific sector. They also shouldn’t rely on a single, fixed PowerPoint presentation; instead, they should prepare multiple versions based on the company’s level of familiarity with the local area and use them as needed.

However, the most common situation investment promotion professionals encounter is when “prospective investors have never visited the area before and lack basic familiarity with it.”

In this situation, the PowerPoint presentation can be divided into five sections—City Overview, Development Zone Introduction, Industrial Infrastructure, Key Industrial Parks, and Preferential Policies—to help investors quickly grasp the essentials.

Part One: City Overview.

Every city boasts its own unique charm and history, but listing too many honors, historical facts, and cultural highlights right at the start may not leave a lasting impression on investors. Instead, consider identifying a characteristic closely tied to the investor’s cultural background to introduce the city.

For example, when presenting to middle-aged male investors in Shuozhou, Shanxi, you could mention that it is the hometown of Zhang Liao. When addressing young female investors, you might highlight that it is the hometown of stand-up comedian Zhao Xiaohui.

Be sure to highlight the city’s locational advantages.

Where transportation hubs are located, industries will cluster there. Since the industrial economy is based on exchange value, transportation is crucial.

You may describe your city as part of a certain metropolitan area or an integrated urban region, but what clients care about most are concrete transportation advantages. Take Muyang County, for example. Though it may seem like an ordinary small county, it was actually the first in Suqian City to have both rail and highway access. The bustling Beijing-Shanghai Expressway has significantly contributed to Muyang’s rise into the ranks of China’s top 100 counties.

Therefore, it is essential to provide a detailed introduction of locational advantages. On one hand, use maps to illustrate them more clearly; on the other hand, highlight the unique advantages your region offers compared to its neighbors. Whether it’s rail, road, air, water, or pipeline transportation—if others lack what you have, or if you have more of what others have—you must identify and showcase these highlights.

Next, introduce the local economic development situation.

Many investors compare the comprehensive strength of different cities based on GDP and growth rates. You can directly highlight your rankings, such as in the Top 100 Counties list or development zone rankings.

In addition, there are many other indicators that reflect the quality of economic development, such as: fixed-asset investment, the proportion of the private sector, total retail sales of consumer goods, and the added value of high-tech manufacturing...

Once investors have formed a preliminary impression of the local economy, you can appropriately interweave discussions about the soft environment.

People often mention the gap between the north and south—this isn’t to say that infrastructure in the north is poor, but rather that the business environment is not as favorable as in the south. Investment promotion staff should appropriately highlight the strengths of the business environment. Sometimes, listing the business environment awards you’ve won is less effective than sharing a real-life story about how the local government supports the growth and development of local enterprises.

Next, you can touch on human resources.

Labor costs are a crucial factor when companies relocate from developed to less developed regions. Moreover, companies today focus on human resources that go beyond unskilled labor—they seek skilled workers and R&D talent with technical expertise and professional knowledge.

Speaking of talent, we must address local educational resources. The more universities there are, the greater the human resources support available to businesses. On the other hand, the “dual-track” education model—such as the one in Taicang, Jiangsu, which collaborates with Germany—can provide manufacturing companies with a large pool of highly skilled technical talent. Many regions are currently striving to emulate this model, making it a noteworthy human resources advantage.

Finally, there is the issue of business costs.

Investment promotion officers sometimes emphasize just how low local costs are. However, as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.” If business costs are too low, potential investors may actually find them hard to accept. What we should strive for is high value for money in business costs.

Therefore, investment promotion officers can highlight the cost-effectiveness of business operations by focusing on three key areas: wages, logistics, and land. It is also essential to include a table listing the prices of the key production factors that investors care about most—water, electricity, and gas—so that investors concerned about production costs can see this information immediately.

Next, we move on to the second section: an introduction to the development zone.

Information such as the date of establishment, planned area, and built-up area is relatively basic. What should be particularly emphasized here is the administrative level and status of the development zone. Whether the zone is national, provincial, or municipal in scope, as well as its ranking within the country or province, has a significant impact on investor confidence.

Next, clearly explain the industrial plan to the investors.

Some investment promotion staff may not fully grasp this; they view the industrial plan as merely the development zone’s operational objective and question its relevance to investors.Consider this: Suppose Development Zones A and B are both developing the biopharmaceutical industry. Zone A ranks biopharmaceuticals first in its industrial plan, while Zone B ranks it fifth. A biopharmaceutical company choosing to develop in Zone A will undoubtedly receive more support than one in Zone B. On the other hand, some small projects that go unnoticed in first-tier cities can become star enterprises in second- or third-tier cities, receiving greater resource allocation.

Next, let’s discuss spatial layout planning.

Take the Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone as an example. Its core is the High-Speed Rail Business New Town, flanked by two wings—the “One Core, Two Wings” model. The southern wing is the Biopharmaceutical Innovation Port, while the northern wing is the Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park, forming the two wings. Third is the “Three-Zone Synergy”—the Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the Cross-Border E-Commerce Zone, and the North and South Industrial Parks.

Once investment promotion staff fully grasp both the industrial planning and spatial layout, they can approach potential investors without feeling aimless or unsure of where to position a project.

It is worth noting that many underdeveloped regions currently have paired assistance programs with developed regions, as well as jointly built industrial parks—this is a major advantage. Investors generally perceive the business environment in developed regions as superior. For example, if an investor previously operated in Shenzhen but faced space constraints, upon arriving in the north and discovering a park jointly built with Shenzhen, they will feel a sense of familiarity and believe they can enjoy the same business environment here as in Shenzhen.

When we talk about the business environment ourselves, investors may not necessarily agree, but since they cannot experience it firsthand, what can we do? Measures like jointly developed industrial parks can foster a positive impression among investors.

Next, let’s discuss environmental factors.

Environmental factors may seem unremarkable, but as environmental standards continue to rise, they enable enterprises to meet higher thresholds at lower costs. Examples include specialized new energy industrial bases, eco-industrial parks, and demonstration bases for high-end equipment manufacturing in new industrialization.

On one hand, these bases serve as a calling card, representing the local soft environment; on the other, they act as a soft lever for attracting investment, implicitly indicating potential sources for industrial projects.

Additionally, you can highlight the number of industrial enterprises in the area. The greater the concentration of businesses, the higher the level of industrialization—which is more conducive to a company’s growth.

Next, we should specifically introduce educational and medical resources to potential investors.

Since investors may relocate their entire families to the city, their primary concerns regarding long-term residency will be their children’s education and their family’s healthcare.

While the presence of international schools and top-tier hospitals in the park may not be a deal-breaker for investors, they certainly serve as a significant bonus and are key factors in helping them feel secure about their future development.

Sometimes, when people hear “development zone,” they assume it’s far from the city center, with a lack of commercial activity and living amenities. To address these concerns, we must present this information through a PowerPoint presentation to leave a positive impression.

Part Three: Introducing the Industrial Foundation.

For example, when introducing the biopharmaceutical industry, I first tell our investors that we have strong leading enterprises and a solid industrial foundation. This does not imply more competition; rather, it means they can recruit more suitable engineers here and benefit from the supply chain and logistics systems established by these leading enterprises.

These factors are intangible and difficult to articulate, yet investors instinctively recognize the value of having leading enterprises in the area. They may not be able to clearly explain why, but they simply feel the need for them.

Therefore, we should highlight these leading enterprises. For instance, Fosun Pharma has invested 10 billion yuan in the Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone to build a global R&D center, manufacturing center, marketing center, and education and healthcare center. When such a leading enterprise arrives, companies associated with Fosun or those that use Fosun as a benchmark will also have greater confidence in investing here.

That said, the biopharmaceutical industry covers a vast range of fields, and we cannot possibly cover every aspect. So what should we do? We should select specific sub-sectors to attract investment along the industrial chain.

The first is the cell therapy sector. Xuzhou possesses strong R&D capabilities in cell therapy, representing the highest level in Jiangsu Province. The Jiangsu Provincial Cell Therapy Innovation Center is located in Xuzhou, so naturally, the provincial government has approved this project for Xuzhou and will support its development.

Second is the “Four Highs and One Anti” sector. “Four Highs and One Anti” refers to common and chronic diseases. This market is sufficiently large to accommodate many enterprises and offers ample room for growth. Additionally, our leading enterprise, Wanbang, is a leader in this sector, so industries related to it are naturally worth attracting.

The third is the central nervous system sector. Xuzhou Medical University’s anesthesiology program is the best in China and is recognized as a national first-class discipline.

Today, 70% of anesthesiologists in China have studied at Xuzhou Medical University, and all anesthesiology textbooks were originally compiled by Professor Zeng Yingming of Xuzhou Medical University. Central nervous system drugs are a subfield of anesthesiology; we possess academic strengths that can be transformed into industrial advantages.

The fourth sector is medical devices. While nearly every city is involved in this field, Xuzhou is where China’s first color Doppler ultrasound machine was developed, giving us a strong foundation in medical devices. In the future, with the widespread adoption of 3D and 5G technologies, the medical device industry is certain to make significant strides.

Therefore, the four major sectors we have identified are all well-founded. Not just any sector can be designated as a priority for investment promotion.

The fourth section introduces key industrial parks, such as the Xuzhou Donghu Medical Industrial Park within the Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Both of Xuzhou’s medical universities have relocated to the vicinity of the Donghu Medical Industrial Park: Xuzhou Medical University and Jiangsu Provincial Higher Vocational College of Medicine.

These two institutions serve as the cradle for R&D engineers and industrial workers.

If investment promotion staff tell potential investors how great our location is and how convenient it is to recruit talent, but there isn’t a single school nearby, they’re bound to have doubts. However, with these two institutions here, investors will feel confident—if a project is established here, they can easily recruit R&D personnel from the medical university and industrial workers from the vocational college, and students will certainly come here for internships.

Looking to international models—such as Johns Hopkins University, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the Mayo Clinic in the United States—we see that these institutions have all leveraged their university affiliations to incubate technology-based industries. Over time, they have evolved into world-class medical industry hubs, attracting substantial venture capital and a large number of high-growth enterprises.

We must develop distinct perspectives and tailored approaches for different industries. Sometimes, slow is fast—we shouldn’t expect a project recruited today to generate tax revenue tomorrow. We should focus on nurturing our own sources of innovation; this is the key to developing high-tech industries.

For example, when introducing our capabilities to potential investors, we highlight that we are developing cell therapy drugs and have a National-Local Joint Laboratory for Tumor Biotherapy. This facility features SPF-grade animal housing capable of supporting 22 research teams, two P2 laboratories, and 28 GMP production areas—including 8 and 10 positive-pressure rooms, as well as 5 and 5 negative-pressure rooms. It also includes an antibody platform library, cell culture rooms, instrument rooms, shared platform laboratories, and high-tech incubation spaces…

Why explain it in such detail? It’s to let those PhDs in biology and medicine returning from overseas know that they can move right in and start their research work here.

The labs, instruments, and production facilities needed for experiments are all here—you just need to bring your research project and start your venture. Once you explain these details clearly, it becomes much easier to close the deal.

We’ve been working on investment promotion for many years, but sometimes we still fall into a small misconception:

We tend to value companies that produce tangible goods, but there are many enterprises that produce intangible products. Take patents, for example—they are essentially technical concepts, but when developed successfully, they can generate significant local employment and tax revenue.

The future lies in high-tech development, and the protective barrier underpinning this development is intellectual property. Therefore, we must treat intellectual property-related businesses and projects as a crucial component of our industrial ecosystem.

Our ultimate goal is to build an industrial ecosystem. Although this may seem insignificant from the perspective of investment promotion performance evaluations, attracting major and mega-scale projects requires a robust industrial ecosystem—just as you need fertile soil to grow tall trees.

Part Five: Introduction to Policies.

This includes general policies, specialized policies, talent support policies, policies for new R&D institutions, and policies regarding industrial funds and finance. In reality, these policies are quite similar across regions—differences may be as small as 5% versus 10%—but the key lies in how effectively they are combined.

In reality, delivering a PowerPoint presentation is not some advanced investment promotion skill; it is merely the basic competency of an investment promoter.

However, those who desperately try to take shortcuts ultimately fail. On the other hand, investment promotion professionals who may seem clumsy—but who take one step at a time, accumulate experience step by step, and continuously adapt to change—are the ones who succeed.

Only by being thorough can one go further.