At 3 a.m., the twilight faded, the streetlights went out, and the city fell into a deep slumber.

At this hour, the lights are still on in the Southwest Government’s Investment Promotion Office… Water is poured into a teacup; a sip of clear tea instantly revives the spirit.

Just as the negotiations were in full swing, the company interrupted the discussion and raised a more pressing request...

To ensure the project’s implementation, this marked the seventh round of mutual visits between the government and the company, striving to turn the impossible into reality.

At their first meeting, the government was initially given the cold shoulder. Given the vast size of the Southwest, the company had no interest in locating here.

In the end, was the project—which was practically forced through—signed? Did it actually get off the ground? And what is the current situation?

Unless you witness it firsthand, you won’t see the “other side” of investment promotion.

By the end of this article, you’ll feel the same bewilderment as when starting from scratch—like “seeing flowers through mist or the moon in water”—yet you’ll also experience the delight of “searching for him a thousand times in the crowd, only to find him in the dimly lit corner.”

Unknown numbers, sensitive project leads

Including WeChat messages, handling over a hundred calls a day is the norm for an investment promotion officer in Southwest China.

Among them, an unknown number rang in. On the other end, a voice with a South China accent inquired about the investment environment in Southwest China.

This company is a supplier of restaurant furniture for McDonald’s and Starbucks. As it is scouting for a location in Southwest China, it has the following requirements:

Proximity to a major city, a robust industrial base, comprehensive industrial support facilities, and easy access to a labor pool.

This is easy to understand; when a company chooses a location for investment, it’s all about whether it’s conducive to its own development.

The conversation over the phone went smoothly, and a site visit was successfully arranged. However, upon their first meeting and tour of the industrial park, the company flatly turned them down.

Setting aside the specific site selection requirements, the industrial park was highly compatible with the project. Within Southwest China, this area is among the top regions for developing the furniture industry.

However, because it is not close to the major cities of Southwest China and fell short of expectations in various aspects, the company’s attitude turned cold.

Having worked in investment promotion for so long, I’ve long been accustomed to projects facing difficulties in getting off the ground. When a company comes to invest in an unfamiliar place, it naturally has various concerns.

To keep the project alive, this Southwest investment promoter provided the company with valuable updates every week—such as local land market trends and site selection decisions by other industry players.

It was learned that the company had begun independently reaching out to government-run industrial parks in other parts of Southwest China. Seeing this “bird in the hand” about to fly away, how could he let it slip through his fingers?

Giving up is easy, but there is always one reason to persevere: to contribute to the region’s economic development.

Building Trust, Dispelling Corporate Concerns

At this stage of the project, the first consideration is: What do I have, and what else do I need?

Simply put: What comparative advantages do I possess that are worth showcasing to the enterprise to capture their attention? What support can I provide to achieve a “1+1>2” synergy?

Now, put yourself in their shoes—what do they want, and what are they missing?

What do enterprises need? Essentially, it comes down to funding, orders, factory space, energy consumption quotas, upstream and downstream supply chains, and professional services (such as safety supervision, environmental impact assessments, finance and taxation, legal affairs, etc.)…

The principle is simple: identify gaps and fill them. For example, if a project requires a large number of skilled workers upon arrival in a region, coordinate with local human resources in advance to assist the company with recruitment after it settles in.

Only by combining the strengths of both the government and the enterprise can we find common ground and increase the success rate of cooperation.

Furthermore, the level of commitment is the “first card” in building trust for investment promotion.

This investment promoter from Southwest China reported the matter up the chain of command, escalating it to the provincial level as a priority investment project to secure a more suitable support plan.

This raises the question: What can the local government actually offer? Or, before initiating the investment promotion, what concrete commitment did the locality demonstrate?

Within a short timeframe, the industrial park helped the company secure resource support—rather than merely making casual inquiries.

In this way, pulling out all the stops, they once again secured an opportunity for an on-site visit.

Speaking the truth and objectively analyzing the current situation

The only constant was that the project team still wanted to visit the core regions of Southwest China.

Through an introduction, the company went for an on-site visit. Based on the park’s leading industries and current development status, no clear signal of intent to attract the company was given.

At the same time, they noted that the furniture industry requires a large footprint, making it difficult to find a suitable plot in the core urban area.

To win over the company, this Southwest investment promoter spoke frankly during the discussion and objectively analyzed the project’s value in different locations.

As a leading home furnishings enterprise, the company may have certain demands that cannot be resolved in the short term. However, since the park is currently in its early stages, it offers preferential resource allocation to leading enterprises that settle in early, providing significant room for growth.

The company’s requirements for establishing operations also include close integration with the local industrial chain. As the largest home furnishings industrial park in Southwest China, the clustering of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain is not an issue.

A project’s growth potential is like a tree that needs the entire forest to provide an ecosystem in order to thrive.

Crucially, the area boasts abundant forestry resources that fully meet the production needs of furniture enterprises.

Moreover, the Management Committee is located right within the park, enabling “zero-distance” resolution of various corporate challenges and ensuring rapid production commencement.

In short, the park’s investment promotion needs align closely with the production requirements of furniture enterprises.

However, in some places, there is a tendency to “talk big”—claiming to be world-leading or internationally first-class with just a hint of innovation; others promise to seek approval from higher authorities but fail to follow through, instead fueling a “false boom” in investment promotion.

In particular, once companies have settled in, they often discover that many of their efforts have been in vain.

They are always fobbed off with excuses like “the process is still underway,” “leadership needs to hold a meeting to discuss it,” or “there are urgent matters to oversee recently, so we cannot spare the time to execute it.”

What should be the city’s “trump card” has instead become a “stain on its credibility.”

Professional Services: Breaking the Deadlock in Business Settlement

Whether it’s finalizing policies or providing on-site support, the park lays everything out clearly during negotiations.

It’s simple: satisfying and balancing both parties’ core interests.

It was precisely this approach that allowed the government and the enterprise to negotiate until 3 a.m. before finally signing the cooperation agreement.

Professional services are often overlooked by the government, yet they are entirely achievable. However, officials often find themselves at a loss only when it comes time to implement the project.

Beyond basic services like business registration, finance and taxation, and legal affairs, what matters most is:

For example, safety inspections (including fire safety), environmental impact assessments, and financial leasing for manufacturing enterprises; patent applications and laboratory construction for technology and innovation enterprises; and drug and medical device approvals for healthcare enterprises.

To elaborate further, manufacturing enterprises all face the challenge of treating “three wastes” (wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste). If there is only one relevant environmental protection company in the area, limited processing capacity can lead to enterprises being unable to treat their three wastes in a timely and compliant manner.

A company that has grown locally would have the necessary connections and resources to resolve such issues. However, an out-of-town enterprise, faced with a lack of specialized services, can easily find itself at a loss and even consider abandoning the project.

Today, this leading furniture manufacturer is once again expanding its production capacity. At that time, it took only 89 days from project signing to production launch.

This underscores one key point: the greatest testament to a favorable business environment is when a company, having already established operations, chooses to expand its production capacity once again.