With the entire team focused on investment promotion, there’s been quite a stir this year.

This intensive investment promotion campaign has already begun.

Mobilization is necessary, but it must be sustainable.

For local governments, this is not merely a formality; it must yield tangible results.

01 Intensity of Mobilization

The intensity of the all-out investment promotion campaign is markedly different from previous years.

First, let’s compare targets.

Some regions have directly designated 2026 as the “Year of Investment Promotion,” quantifying targets at every level and breaking them down step by step.

Every department must take responsibility for the number of signed contracts in manufacturing, services, and technology-related projects. In some regions, the first major conference of the year is dedicated to high-quality development, featuring on-site signing ceremonies for dozens of projects.

Behind the numbers lies a sense of urgency to “snap up projects.”

Next, the competition in ceremonial events.

The ceremonial presentation of flags to regional investment promotion teams before they set out has become a standard ritual at the start of the year across the country.

Investment promotion teams line up in orderly formation; representatives take the stage one by one to receive their flags and make public pledges. They set out in full force, adopting a “large-scale campaign” approach, and head to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to target specific opportunities.

Receiving the flag is tantamount to accepting a military order. Tasks and responsibilities are inextricably linked.

Next, consider the level of involvement by local top leaders.

In some cases, dozens of municipal-level leaders transform into “investment promotion officers,” personally leading the formation of hundreds of small teams to visit hundreds of enterprises focused on key industries. In others, leaders from all four sets of leadership bodies gather at a single investment promotion conference—an event of unprecedented scale.

Mobilization efforts have intensified at every level, with enthusiasm surging higher and higher. But no matter how high the momentum, it is merely the starting point. What truly determines success or failure is whether the all-hands-on-deck investment promotion system is genuinely implemented once the initial fervor subsides.

02 “Refining” the Organizational Structure

First, top-level decision-making.

Top Party and government leaders take the helm, establishing a citywide, all-staff investment promotion command center to coordinate the overall strategy and mobilize all parties.

The significance of this tier lies not in the structure’s appearance, but in the fact that “someone is capable of making decisions.”

When cross-departmental coordination stalls or cross-regional resources need to be allocated, the command center’s decisive authority ensures the system does not grind to a halt.

Second Tier: Professional Teams Lead the Charge.

Industry task forces focus on key industrial sectors, engaging in in-depth dialogue with enterprises regarding industry, technology, and capital;

Overseas task forces act as “shock troops,” penetrating key cities nationwide to conduct targeted, door-to-door outreach.

Some localities have specifically established a collaborative system comprising “investment promotion teams + sub-districts + state-owned enterprises + the command center,” with clear chains of command and defined roles for each entity.

Third tier: Non-economic departments must define their roles.

This is the stage most prone to missteps in a city-wide investment promotion effort.

Non-specialized investment promotion departments do not negotiate contracts or sign projects; instead, they focus on two key tasks:

First, they act as “information gatherers,” leveraging their industry resources to proactively detect market signals and uncover investment leads.

Second, they act as “facilitators of support,” providing proactive services for resource allocation and offering full-process assistance with approval procedures to ensure projects proceed smoothly without delays.

Fourth, aligning with social forces.

The scope of company-wide investment promotion extends beyond the government.

Local leading enterprises and industry chain leaders are natural resources for “attracting business through business.”

By leveraging the industrial ecosystem to connect upstream and downstream suppliers, the chain-based clustering effect is far faster than the government acting alone.

State-owned platforms are gradually shifting from a supporting role in investment promotion to becoming the main force in professional operations, while third-party entities such as market-oriented institutions, business associations, and fund management companies are also being integrated to broaden information channels and extend the reach of investment promotion.

03 Competing on Project Quality

Now that the all-hands-on-deck investment promotion system is in place, the next challenge arises.

For a long time, investment promotion evaluations have focused solely on contract values.

Once photos were taken at the signing ceremony and the figures reported, the task was considered complete. Whether a project has broken ground, whether it has begun production after breaking ground, and the quality of its output—these are the questions that require closer scrutiny.

In this round, the focus of performance evaluations has shifted.

The focus has shifted from “how many contracts were signed” to “how many projects have been implemented.” Performance evaluations for professional investment promotion teams are now extending to cover the entire process. Signing a contract is just the starting point; every stage—from construction commencement rates and completion rates to production capacity attainment rates—is tracked with specific quantitative metrics.

Attracting a project is only half the battle; we must ensure it actually takes root on the ground. Only when a project is “attracted and implemented” is the full cycle complete.

The focus has shifted from “wanting everything” to “clearly defining what is needed.” Localities are beginning to set thresholds for project entry. Projects that fail to meet standards for technological content, energy consumption, or environmental protection—and thus do not align with the direction of high-quality development—will become a burden even if signed.

Some regions have explicitly stated that, focusing on the three dimensions of “expanding scale, improving quality, and enhancing efficiency,” they will prioritize attracting projects that “fill gaps, strengthen, and extend industrial chains,” rather than cramming in any project that comes along.

Shifting from “government satisfaction” to “business satisfaction.” The perspective of performance evaluation is also quietly shifting.

Previously, investment promotion performance was evaluated based on government-side metrics; now, enterprises’ sense of fulfillment and satisfaction are being incorporated into the performance evaluation system for officials. It is far more meaningful when enterprises not only come and stay but are also willing to make additional investments.

Tiered evaluations ensure each department fulfills its specific responsibilities. While everyone participates, evaluations cannot apply a one-size-fits-all standard.

Specialized investment promotion teams are evaluated based on the full project lifecycle; overseas investment promotion staff are assessed on the quality of their business visits and the depth of mutual site inspections; non-economic departments are evaluated on their level of cooperation and service response speed.

Using the wrong evaluation methods will only lead to “padding the numbers”—a situation where everyone appears to be involved, but in reality, only a few are doing the actual work.

The yardstick of quality standards measures not only the projects themselves, but also the true caliber of the investment promotion work.

04 “Sharpening” Professional Capabilities

The “call to action” for investment promotion has been issued, the system has been established, and quality standards have been firmly set.

It is only at this stage of full-staff investment promotion that shortcomings in professional capabilities become apparent.

This problem cannot be solved by mobilization alone, nor by the system alone; it can only be addressed by systematically building a talent development framework.

The solutions adopted by various regions are shifting from “ad hoc training” to “routine skill-building,” establishing a regular investment promotion training mechanism that organizes periodic, batch-based intensive training sessions for investment promotion teams.

The training content is no longer limited to general investment promotion techniques, but focuses on “substantive knowledge” that precisely aligns with industrial needs and local realities.

Localities are prioritizing personnel development to build a team with strong professional expertise and outstanding practical capabilities—a key competitive advantage of the "all-hands-on-deck" investment promotion approach.

Based on this, GuChuan Training School offers customized investment promotion training programs tailored to different regions, stages, and industries.

Effective investment promotion training is not about reading from a script; it is about addressing specific needs.

As the first professional institution in China to obtain accreditation for investment promotion training, we reject the “one-size-fits-all” approach—whether for small-scale sessions with dozens of participants or large-scale workshops with hundreds.

Instead, based on the actual needs of government-run industrial parks and state-owned enterprise platforms, Guchuan Training School develops the most suitable investment promotion training plans, consistently adhering to the principles of “practicality, hands-on application, and tangible results.”

✓ Practical Curriculum

We have independently developed nearly a thousand courses, building a training system that covers the entire career cycle of investment promotion professionals. From theoretical foundations to practical exercises, and from project identification to industry research, we comprehensively cover the entire investment promotion process.

✓ Real-World Case Studies

Every case study presented is a real project successfully executed by the Guchuan Alliance investment promotion team. These include both distilled lessons from success and thorough post-mortems of failures, helping frontline investment promotion professionals avoid unnecessary detours.

✓ Tangible Results

Addressing local investment promotion challenges and industrial development issues, we use in-class practical exercises, simulated assessments, and Q&A sessions to rigorously track whether training content has truly translated into practical investment promotion skills.

Final Remarks

We are intensifying our mobilization efforts, refining our organizational structure, enhancing project quality, and strengthening professional capabilities.

All-staff investment promotion is not a fleeting trend, but a sustained, long-term commitment to implementation.

Ultimately, what matters is not superficial fanfare, but the substance of our work.