I was fortunate enough to be invited to a networking event for the new materials industry, and the most common activity throughout the entire event was exchanging business cards.
A group of people performed a synchronized routine: warm greetings, business cards in hand, introducing themselves.
Stepping closer to take a look, their titles were mostly Directors of Investment Promotion or Heads of Overseas Offices… The media tried to interview the entrepreneurs but could barely get a word in.
Without a doubt, they were investment promoters from government-run industrial parks across the country.
The spotlight shone down, and every nod carried the expectation of securing investment.
Sitting quietly to observe, I realized—breaking away from conventional thinking—that the road to investment promotion is long and arduous. So that’s how it is.

Gripping the pen tightly, fingers trembling slightly, eyes fixed ahead, “New Insights on Investment Promotion” swirl rapidly through my mind…

The road to investment promotion is long; one can only take it step by step

How’s progress in the first half of the year? We’ve discussed over a dozen projects, some of which are still “under review.”
This investment promoter from the Pearl River Delta—let’s call him Director Wang.
The city where Director Wang works has a solid industrial foundation. Having previously worked in the automotive industry, he is now part of the vanguard team for attracting investment in the automotive supply chain.
He believes that investment promotion is much like sales, except the “products” are land, factory space, and the local investment environment.Similarly, there are annual performance metrics that evaluate both the quantity and quality of projects; a one-size-fits-all approach is generally avoided.
When Director Wang interacts with companies, the question he hears most often is: “How far are you willing to go with your incentives?”
Some companies have stated that if the incentives are comparable, they won’t consider investing here, as equipment and logistics costs are already significant.
Hearing this, it makes perfect sense. For example, when shopping, if products have similar features, everyone would choose the cheaper one.
But upon deeper reflection, what kind of company is this that dares to “ask for the moon”?
Investment incentives are merely a catalyst, not the be-all and end-all.
Any company with a modicum of standards and credentials values industrial support systems, upstream and downstream enterprises, and the business environment.

How much does policy really determine whether a project succeeds?
Nowadays, no one dares to take on a “Jia Yueting FF project” anymore. A voice came from the right rear, and Director Wang laughed.
He pointed out that with some projects, it’s not that local governments lack expertise—even well-established commercial institutions have been duped.With the emerging industries sector so hot, there are always projects that try to take advantage of the chaos—a mix of the good and the bad. When we come across them, we steer clear immediately.
Why is attracting projects getting harder and harder? As the entry barriers for government-run industrial parks rise, we can only take our time to carefully select enterprises that are suitable for local development.
How do you evaluate a project worth negotiating? Director Wang’s answer reflects the current state of investment promotion.
We look at output value and tax revenue, and then we also pay attention to capital.
Nowadays, financial and legal teams typically conduct evaluations: Can the investment be recouped within five years? For large projects, can it be recouped within eight to ten years?
Project agreements impose strict restrictions on commencement and production timelines. For example, if construction doesn’t begin within six months, production doesn’t start within 18 months, or the necessary qualifications aren’t obtained by a certain quarter, the land will be reclaimed.
Start-up capital generally ranges from tens of millions to over a hundred million yuan—after all, there’s only one “Tesla” in the world.

So, trying to secure startup capital by fraudulently obtaining land or exploiting policies is virtually impossible. It’s certainly not like the old days, when project groundbreaking news made headlines, yet many projects ended up as abandoned sites.

Knowing full well that implementation is difficult, they still choose the hard path

During a meeting, someone remarked: “A certain star semiconductor company wants to meet for talks, but first you have to pay a 10 million yuan ‘good faith deposit.’”
Pay the 10 million yuan “down payment” first, and then we’ll discuss the project. As for why? The reasons are as follows:
1. The competitive due diligence has just been completed; they hope to reuse the previous report to improve efficiency.
2. A 100 million yuan investment is no small sum; please prove your capabilities to avoid unnecessary social niceties.
3.I’m very sorry, but negotiations with no outcome are a waste of everyone’s time.
This news has sent shockwaves through the entire investment community. Does this mean that investment firms without sufficient clout aren’t even worthy of reviewing projects?
In the business recruitment sector, there seems to be a hint of this “shadow” as well.
Some projects face the issue that the regions they wish to invest in don’t meet the entry requirements for industrial parks. Meanwhile, the government-run parks they want to visit aren’t up to the company’s standards and fail to meet their demands.
Any company with a bit of “capital” has all the necessary conditions at its disposal.
And then there’s this: are food companies really inferior to electronics and information technology?
Back then, people were reluctant to sell land to a soy sauce maker, but now it generates over 200 million yuan in tax revenue annually.
Competition in the computer industry is fierce, and it’s increasingly concentrated in the hands of big players like Terry Gou.
For a prefecture-level city, the electronics and information technology sector is highly competitive, offering no competitive advantage. However, a soy sauce manufacturer can generate over 200 million yuan in tax revenue annually once it sets up operations.
It’s clear which option is more suitable. The most crucial logic behind investment promotion is respecting market principles.
Why would a company choose to invest here? Is the industrial infrastructure more robust? Are their suppliers located here? Or is the business environment simply better?

Put simply, there must be genuine “assets” that can truly attract businesses.

What are you afraid of? Businesses need stability

The atmosphere throughout the discussion was positive. Just as we were about to leave, I heard a remark that left me speechless…
“That investment promotion official said it himself—I’d still rather trust the government.” His gaze was firm as he said this to Director Wang.
Then Director Wang began to elaborate: we know exactly what companies are afraid of.
The credibility of a written agreement is always higher than that of a verbal promise.Due to various regulatory requirements, preferential terms are clearly “explicitly stated” in the agreement, leaving no room for interpretation of “implied” clauses.
At the same time, some investment attraction agreements require the participation of relevant administrative departments.
In the past, it might have been the case that if a matter couldn’t be handled by a certain department according to regulations, the enterprise would have to go to whoever signed the agreement to get it resolved.
If the signatory lacks the ability to coordinate and facilitate, they’ll ultimately just throw up their hands in frustration—and it’s the enterprise that ends up suffering.
Another issue is the high turnover among leaders. When attracting a project, you might be greeted by the previous leader, A, but the actual implementation is handled by the newly appointed leader, B.
Even the most high-quality enterprises face challenges that need to be resolved after they settle in. In recent years, the principle of “new officials handling old matters” has been promoted, and with error-tolerance mechanisms in place from top to bottom, this situation has clearly improved.

Where there’s a policy, there’s a countermeasure. With such “proactive” government investment promotion officials in industrial parks, why would they worry about attracting businesses and failing to retain them?