$3.44b in deals won on sidelines of Dalian meeting

Agreements for 16 projects with a total investment of 23.6 billion yuan ($3.44 billion) were signed on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2019, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, in Dalian, Liaoning province.

"The Summer Davos Forum has brought many international opportunities to the city," said Jin Guowei, vice-mayor of Dalian.

He said these key projects will further promote the continuous improvement of the scale and quality of foreign investment in Dalian.

Among the projects, 10 investors were from other countries and regions including Japan, the United States, and Israel.

James Zhao, president of Jiachem Inc, a US company based in California, said the company will invest $50 million to set up a manufacturing base and research center of oral healthcare products in Dalian Jinpu New Area, China's 10th national-level development area.

"There are three major reasons for us to choose to invest in Dalian. First, as a port city, it is convenient to ship our products to other regions around the world. Second, it is easy to find suppliers for industrial molds or electrical motors in the city with complete industrial categories. Third, the city has plenty of talented people with so many high colleges and universities," said Zhao.

The newly signed projects cover several fields like information technology, biological medicine, intelligent equipment and cultural creativity.

"We will give preferential policies to support the good operation and development of these projects, keep the promises while attracting investors and help put them into operation as soon as possible," said Jin.

Since 2007, the Summer Davos Forum has been held in China for 13 years, seven in Dalian and six in Tianjin.

This year, more than 2,000 participants registered to attend the meeting, two-thirds are business people, said Jin, adding that many of them are interested in starting business and trade cooperation with China.

Foreign-funded enterprises have become the new engine of Dalian's economic development. Since 2007, Dalian has realized imports and exports worth $663.9 billion, 4,075 foreign-funded projects, and actual utilization of foreign capital of $68.79 billion.

So far, 115 Fortune 500 companies have invested in 275 projects in Dalian.

In the first six months of this year, the city's actual domestic investment increased by 10.1 percent, the actual utilization of foreign capital increased by 114.6 percent, and the number of reserve projects increased markedly, said Jin.