Holding conferences and signing contracts via video conferences are the new 
measures adapted by Chinese cities, like Zhongshan, to tackle with the impact 
of COVID-19 epidemic. With the help of big data, cloud platform and other new 
technologies, Zhongshan is attracting high-quality investment projects by 
taking digital means to resume work and production and promote upgrading of 
industries, according to the People's Government of Zhongshan Municipality.

On March 28, 2020, Zhongshan Trade and Investment Fair was held in Zhongshan, 
attracting a total of 52 high-quality projects and nearly 55 billion yuan of 
total investment, including 19 projects with investment exceeding one billion 
yuan. The projects are mainly related to financial services, headquarters 
economy, biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing, testing and supply chain 
upgrades. The enterprises joined the conference and signed the contracts online.

The epidemic does not stop enterprises from investing in Zhongshan. A total of 
41 projects were signed at the opening ceremony, with 38 of them signed via 
video conference, and three projects from TCL, Midea, and Mingyang respectively 
were signed on site. Key manufacturing projects accounted for more than 60%.
 
"We are attracted by the industrial advantages and investment environment of 
Zhongshan. We will put the headquarters of the west bank of the Pearl River of 
TCL Technology Group Corporation in Zhongshan," said Wang Cheng, CEO of TCL 
Group Industrial Holdings Co., Ltd. He mentioned that TCL will further 
strengthen the layout of its home appliances and equipment manufacturing 
industry at its Zhongshan base. The output value is expected to exceed 13 
billion yuan this year and reach more than 20 billion yuan by 2023.

Zhongshan is located at the geographical and geometric center of the 
Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, nearby three pilot free trade 
zones, namely Guangzhou Nansha, Shenzhen Qianhai and Zhuhai Hengqin. The 
Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor is under construction. It will only take 20 minutes 
to drive from Zhongshan to Qianhai by the corridor. Guangzhou metro line 18 
will lead directly to Zhongshan. In the future, it will only take 30 minutes 
from Zhongshan to CBD of Guangzhou," said Lai Zehua, Secretary of the CPC 
Zhongshan Municipal Committee. At present, Zhongshan focuses on replacing old 
growth drivers with new ones, by building development platform of Cuiheng New 
District, Huoju Development Zone, and Qijiang New City. By 2024, it will create 
a household industrial cluster, an electronic information industrial cluster, 
an equipment manufacturing industrial cluster and a health and pharmaceutical 
industrial cluster, worth of 500 billion, 300 billion, 200 billion and 100 
billion yuan respectively.

When promoting the business environment of the city, Wei Weihan, mayor of 
Zhongshan, said within five years from this year, Zhongshan will invest 150 
billion yuan to improve its transportation system covering high-speed rail, 
intercity railway, expressway, water transport, and city terminals. Meanwhile, 
Zhongshan plans to speed up the construction of two major scientific facilities 
and two high-level universities.

Top Talent Networking Zhongshan also kicked off on the same day and will hold 
13 activities with an aim to attract talents and serve enterprises. On the 
event, the city awarded five outstanding high-level talents from enterprises 
with 200,000 yuan each and two outstanding entrepreneurial teams with 2 million 
yuan each.

Lai Zehua said the Zhongshan Municipal Government will fully support high-level 
talents in Zhongshan to display their talents and realize their dreams, and 
sincerely welcome entrepreneurs and talents to invest in the city.

At the beginning of February this year, Chinese governments at all levels, 
including Guangdong province, have stated clearly to support the resumption of 
operation and production. By releasing 20 measures to support enterprises and 
holding the 2020 Zhongshan Trade and Investment Fair and the Top Talent 
Networking Zhongshan event, the city has shown a good trend of supporting 
enterprises' development and attracting talents.

According to the organizer, the series of activities of the Fair start on March 
28 and will continue to mid May.

Source: The People's Government of Zhongshan Municipality

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   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=361034

   Caption: The 2020 Zhongshan Trade and Investment Fair and Top Talent 
Networking Zhongshan was held on March 28.