For some time now, some have wondered: since everyone is talking about high-quality development, should we still place as much emphasis on attracting investment as we did in the past? The implication is that focusing on investment promotion might be somewhat outdated—is it even necessary anymore?

Objectively speaking, given the caution against “GDP-centric” thinking, there is some merit to these views. For many years, numerous regions treated investment promotion as a key driver and powerful lever for economic and social development; some even used the intensity and results of investment promotion efforts to evaluate and reward officials. While this approach did inject strong momentum into local economic and social development to a certain extent, it also gave rise to numerous problems. The most prominent of these is the “GDP-centric” mindset.

In reality, for the purpose of driving economic development, attracting investment is merely a means to an end. As evidenced by development practices across the country since the reform and opening-up, project development has been a key driver of economic growth. Some regions have evolved from impoverished, backward villages into globally renowned centers, and a crucial factor in this transformation has been the attraction of projects of all sizes through investment promotion. Experience shows that only major projects can generate the synergistic energy required for economic and social development.However, good projects—especially major ones that align with local realities—will never materialize out of thin air; they must be driven by investment promotion. Particularly at a time when regional integration is expanding and disparities among traditional factors such as labor, capital, and preferential policies are narrowing, the difficulty and intensity of competition in investment promotion across regions have reached unprecedented levels. Under these circumstances, only by thoroughly and effectively preparing for all aspects of investment promotion can we achieve meaningful breakthroughs.

In fact, in recent years, many regions have regarded investment promotion as a key pillar for driving economic and social development and identifying new growth drivers.For example, after attracting Tesla, Shanghai quickly secured a leading position in the global new energy vehicle industry; Chengdu adopted a multi-pronged approach to investment promotion, adding 540,000 new market entities in 2018 alone, with a GDP of 1.53 trillion yuan and total imports and exports of 498.3 billion yuan—ranking second, third, and seventh, respectively, among sub-provincial cities nationwide; after attracting Foxconn, Zhengzhou rapidly became one of the cities with the strongest economic growth momentum in central and western China;Nanjing, by refining and solidifying its investment projects, has gradually gathered a cluster of competitive industries such as new energy vehicles, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, software and information services, and biopharmaceuticals. All of this demonstrates that attracting investment remains a key driver of economic and social development. Even as the economy transitions from a phase of high-speed growth to one of high-quality development, attracting investment remains crucial. Therefore, the question facing current development is clearly not whether to attract investment, but how to attract it, what kind of businesses to attract, and what kind of capital to bring in.

Investment promotion has not become obsolete, but localities must keep pace with the times to create a favorable business environment. This is because regional competition is intensifying, and the old approach of competing on preferential policies, resources, and land is no longer viable. Today, the competition centers on the transformation of government functions and the provision of efficient public services. Practice has proven that a better business environment unleashes greater market vitality and social creativity, thereby enhancing the appeal of investment promotion.

Creating a favorable business environment is a complex systemic endeavor that requires a multi-faceted approach. However, its foundational element lies in fair market access and impartial regulation within the framework of the rule of law.“The rule of law is the best business environment.” Currently, all regions urgently need to integrate the rule of law into every aspect and sector of the market economy, using legal thinking and methods to adjust the interests of market entities, define the boundaries between government and the market, achieve the orderly allocation of market resources, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of all market entities. In particular, we must eliminate the “rule by man” mentality—such as “smoothing things over” or “getting things done”—and advocate for the use of legal means to help market entities form stable expectations, enabling them to invest and develop their businesses with confidence.At the same time, efforts should be made to enhance the level of government services by streamlining administration and delegating power, combining deregulation with effective oversight, and optimizing pre-, during-, and post-event supervision. This will help resolve various issues—such as “glass doors,” “spring doors,” and “ Revolving doors”—that undermine the quality of government services and the business environment. Only by building a sound business environment and planting the “paulownia tree” can we attract the “phoenix.”