At 6:30 p.m. Beijing time, an international flight was soaring over Europe.

Inside the cabin, officials from the Pearl River Delta region’s investment promotion bureau alternated between furrowing their brows and engaging in lively discussions.

Little did they know that, unlike previous overseas investment promotion trips which were mostly about making visits, this time they were on the verge of securing a deal first.

The third quarter had been a “sprint”—with three foreign investment projects each exceeding 500 million yuan, they were just one away from the mark!

This project originated from an overseas call from a multinational corporation seeking advice on site selection. If they missed the optimal window for engagement, the project would be lost forever.

How could they break the deadlock in foreign investment promotion? As the aircraft climbed higher, the investment strategies discussed in the cabin became increasingly clear...

Answering the call, assessing the project type

Fast forward to the day before: the ringtone suddenly sounded, and an international long-distance call broke the quiet in the Investment Promotion Bureau’s office.

On the other end of the line, fluent English sounded like a ray of dawn, illuminating the Investment Promotion Bureau’s work in attracting foreign capital.

After connecting, the caller merely outlined the project’s current status and inquired about the investment environment in the Pearl River Delta, without directly revealing specific location requirements or preferred regions.

Through brief conversation, it became clear that this was their first time selecting a location in China to expand into the Chinese market. This clue was crucial for investment promotion.

The caller’s voice sounded steady and calm, yet it could not hide their “naivety” regarding investing in China.

Everyone knows that the battle for investment is a race against time. If we fail to pinpoint the investor’s site selection needs immediately during the call, the project could fall through.

Leveraging professional foreign language skills, the investment promotion team outlined key information such as the region’s leading industries, resource environment, and supporting services.

Unexpectedly, the investor had no concept of provincial capitals, let alone the fact that this area was located on the outskirts of one. For a moment, the conversation hit a dead end.

Adapting on the fly, they inquired about the company’s sales markets and channels, determining that the products were intended for use inside the mouth and thus fell under the medical device industry.

Based on industry classification, it fell under Class III medical devices, which require a medical device registration certificate. If the company could set up operations in the medical device industrial park, it would be the perfect fit.

Seizing those golden five minutes, I highlighted the key advantages of the medical device industrial park:

Industrial clustering: key raw materials can be sourced domestically, and the park is home to three or four leading domestic enterprises.

Comprehensive support services, including registration and licensing, sterilization, and waste disposal, are all readily available.

The foreign investor indicated that they could review materials via email or fax and conduct an online site visit. If suitable, they would dispatch a business manager to China for negotiations and discussions at a later stage.

After hanging up, the investment promotion department of the Investment Promotion Bureau launched a targeted recruitment campaign, formed a service team, and identified the “key contact” behind the project lead. Winning the foreign investor’s trust is the most critical step.

At the check-in counter, seize the opportunity to meet

The double-digit growth achieved at the start of this year is most likely the result of intensified efforts at all levels to attract foreign investment.

Undoubtedly, local governments everywhere are doing everything in their power to broaden the sources of foreign investment projects.

No matter how late it is today, it’s still early; no matter how early it is tomorrow, it’s still late. Any good project will inevitably be “shopped around to countless potential partners.”

The competition for foreign investment is fierce; ultimately, the project will go to whoever secures it first through sheer capability.

To contact the foreign investor as quickly as possible, the Investment Promotion Bureau divided tasks to investigate project leads, gathering information from industry sectors, industrial aspects, and competitors, and narrowed the focus to a European company.

After analysis, it was determined that this foreign company was selecting a site for the first time to establish its fifth factory in China, with the other four factories all located in North America. Once effective investment information was secured, the bureau called the company again and, with full sincerity, invited the foreign investors to conduct an online site visit.

Unexpectedly, the company’s “long list” of potential locations included 16 Chinese cities. It was anticipated that after the company’s second-in-command visited China, the list would be narrowed down to a “short list” of eight cities.

This shortlist would then be submitted to the European headquarters for discussion, after which the cities requiring an on-site visit by headquarters personnel would be selected.

The overseas site selection process involves lengthy travel times back and forth, and missing the optimal window for engagement typically results in the opportunity being snatched up by other cities.

The Investment Promotion Bureau made a bold decision: to fly directly to the European headquarters.

Their goal was not merely to visit companies, but to go directly to the site to sign project agreements. At first, the foreign investors did not agree to this approach, partly because they felt the preliminary evaluation phase was still ongoing.

However, the tickets for the Investment Promotion Bureau’s international flight to Europe had already been issued.

As for the foreign investors, they were focused on costs, land plots, supporting facilities, recruitment, and distance from the airport; the investment promotion department had prepared all the corresponding materials.

Despite this, the project side insisted that the timing for a meeting was not yet right. Working on the front lines of investment promotion, they didn’t just sit in the office inviting companies—they even sought meeting opportunities at the check-in counter.

Even on the way to the airport, they continued briefing the foreign investor on the site selection plan. After a lengthy and patient explanation, they provided effective advice on the project’s future positioning, market, and direction, resolving the challenges, blind spots, and potential pitfalls in the site selection process.

Upon arriving at the check-in counter, the foreign investor agreed to host a meeting at their European headquarters to discuss cooperation. As long as a face-to-face meeting with the project team is secured, the likelihood of a successful deal will increase significantly.

Face-to-Face: Timing Is Everything

For foreign enterprises, selecting a region suitable for their development is crucial. Before making a decision, they need to fully understand the development and advantages of each industrial park.

This is particularly true for companies from Europe and Japan, which often have longer decision-making cycles and may require more effective communication from the government to align their strengths with the evolving Chinese market.

Of course, having the right timing, location, and human factors is not a sufficient condition for attracting companies to cluster together; it still lacks the crucial element that “turns stone into gold”—namely, high-quality service capabilities.

Conversely, some business owners may even feel a sense of aversion at the mere mention of investment promotion staff. Why? The main reason is excessive disruption—with investment promotion calls from various sources ringing nonstop throughout the day.

Therefore, when meeting face-to-face, it is essential to strike the right balance—it must be just right. The term “fire control” refers to the intensity of heat and duration of cooking used in the preparation of a dish.

If the timing is off, the dish will fail; if it’s overdone, it will burn.

"Getting the timing right" is actually a matter of balance—it concerns the boundary between government and the market. At its core, it involves how to let the market play a decisive role in resource allocation while better leveraging the government’s role.

For this meeting, the Party Secretary of the Development Zone personally led the delegation—a gesture that demonstrates the importance placed on the event while also enabling both parties to make on-the-spot decisions, thereby improving the efficiency of coordination and deal-making.

On-site negotiations focus less on preferential policies and more on the professionalism of services provided to foreign-invested enterprises. This requires identifying the issues that concern foreign investors—such as industrial support systems and the business environment—while providing stable cost estimates.

Beyond ensuring “construction begins immediately upon land acquisition” and shortening the time required for enterprises to obtain business licenses—traditional project-oriented services—the scope of service must be extended to the people themselves.

For foreign-invested enterprises, another key service they value is the role local governments can play in helping them expand into the Chinese market.

One key service involves helping foreign-invested enterprises identify application scenarios in the Chinese market, as domestic emerging industries are developing rapidly.

For example, Dole Foods established a fruit import trading company in Pudong; through government promotion, Dole fruits are now sold at Disneyland and the Tesla Gigafactory.

Additionally, when Louis Dreyfus sought to enter China’s retail distribution channels with one of its beverage products, the government facilitated connections with both offline and online retailers such as Hema, JD.com, and CR Vanguard.

A market economy is a “migratory economy”: foreign capital will flow to wherever the environment is most conducive, and factors of production will follow. The fruitful results of investment promotion efforts serve as the best testament to professional service capabilities.