Online Investment Fair in China
cctv.com 08-07-2003 16:46
Attracting foreign capital seems to be the perennial theme in present-day China. From provincial governors to city mayors, all see investment fairs as an important means to accelerate local economic development. But it is not all about exhibition halls and shows booths nowadays, as a new form of investment fair emerges, that is, the online investment fair. In today's business life, we'll bring you to experience an online investment fair that was just held in Sichuan province, and you can judge just how effective it was.
At 8:47 am, July 22, 2003 in Sichuan Provincial Government Huang, Xiaoxiang, vice governor of Sichuan Province, came to his office as usual, however it is a special day for him and for the whole province. The 2003 Sichuan Online Investment Fair will be open at 9 o鈥檆lock this morning, and Mr. Huang, instead of cutting a ribbon, will do the opening honors by the click of a mouse.
鈥淪ichuan is an inland province, so communication with other provinces and other countries is hindered, to some degree, by difficulties posed by the traffic and the natural environment. We need to free up the information flow with the outside world in every way, in order to introduce Sichuan to the outside world,鈥 he said.
On July 22, 9:30 am, 2003, in Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Sichuan Province, 20 minutes later, the press conference for the online investment fair starts-online, of course. Shi Zhenghua, deputy director of Trade and Economic Cooperation Department could be found sitting in front of the computer in his office, but instead of dealing with his daily work, he's answering a question online.
"We are now trying to explore new ways to attract investment. Aside from the traditional investment fair in particular places, we're now exploring online formats. This could enlarge our scope for attracting investment, in order to reach our purpose," "I think it's more comprehensive, concentrated, and quicker. I think it can not only help investors get to know us better; it can also save money," said Xie Kaihua, director-general of Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Sichuan Province.
This expandable map of Sichuan embodies all of the information for this online investment fair, lying behind every image in this electronic platform, foreign investors could browse them all and make easy and quick comparisons at the same time. The Sichuan government is introducing more than 300 projects this time, with expected foreign capital around 8 billion US dollars in total, among which a quarter are online negotiation projects from the three-day online fair, while the rest are for further appointment. An ecological agriculture development company is one of the online projects.
In 94' Sichuan International Merchants & Investment Conference Situated in Economic and Technological Development Zone of Chengdu City, Ju He Ecological Agriculture Development Cooperation will be one of the first companies in the logistics business for fruit and vegetables after the tariff rate becomes zero this October. With a total area of 30 hectares and investment of 45 million US dollars, Ju He International is listed at this online investment fair.
After deciding to take part in this fair, staff at Ju He toiled for days on preparations, the manager divided their work into several parts: general, technology, marketing and investment environment. Different staff members undertook work in different areas and soon were answering all kinds of questions online.
"We held a meeting after we got the message. And then we discussed with each department and assigned tasks to each, asking them to prepare all the necessary information. Investors may ask very specific questions online, so every department should be very well prepared," said Yang Ling, board director of Sichuang Ju He Ecological Agriculture Development Co., LTC.
Staff of the technology department found a Malaysian investor in the chat room this morning, who asked many professional questions concerning their products, transportation, and logistics. Now he is online again for some further information, and luckily, this Malaysian investor was willing to answer some of our interview questions.
Aside from these companies, eight development zones were also enlisted in this online investment fair. Chengdu Hi-tech Zone is one of them. Different from other projects, the Hi-tech Zone began to publicize themselves via Internet early in 1998. However they are still very interested in this online investment fair, with a more condensed time period an platform, they hope their zone can be known by more investors.
"The whole province's promotional outreach now has much greater effect, so we need to enhance ours in a limited time period, to provide the best information, favorable policies, and to tell the outside world about our latest changes," said Liu Hongjian, head of Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.
While most foreign investors were familiar with traditional investment fairs, they also welcome the move to cyber fairs. The Sichuan Small Investment Fund, or SSIF, the first foreign-funded private equity fund in Sichuan, which delves into the sea of small and medium-sized enterprises looking for gems. We visited Mr. Carr, founder and managing director of SSIF for his opinions.
鈥淔or us the online investment fair provides a lot of immediate online coverage, with so 300 potential investment projects all available at the same time. We have instant and efficient access to project that hard to get at the regular fair. It provides efficiency and flexibility and makes it very available for investors,鈥 said Jonathan Carr, managing director of Sichuan SME Investment Fund.
SIFF has already paid special attention to two online projects so far at this fair, Mr. Carr thinks highly of this new form of investment fair.
鈥淭he initial result will be, to make investors aware this tool exists, and when we start to use it, the longer term effect will be, to make the capital more easily available to projects, and make projects themselves more easily available to investors. So it improves the efficiency of financial investment in China,鈥 said Jonathan Carr, managing director of Sichuan SME Investment Fund.
Sichuan provincial government reveals that the site has attracted almost 300 million hits for the three-day online fair. According to professionals, currently there are mainly four categories of investment fairs in China. Within which online investment fair has the special advantages of lower cost, higher efficiency, more flexibility and easier organization. The organizer of the Sichuan online investment fair disclosed that the cost of the fair is only one-tenth that of a regular investment fair.
This spring's spread of SARS constrained movement of people, especially business travel to China. However, statistics from the provincial government show that Sichuan has attracted 410 million US dollars in foreign capital for the first half year through traditional investment fairs. What's more, Sichuan governors are still trying out new marketing ploys, with hopes that the foreign investment will keep on soaring.
"We want to build a platform between investors and local Sichuan people, and to make this platform last a long time. So this online investment fair is a never-ending affair," said Huang Xiaoxiang, vice governor of Sichuan Provincial People's Government.
With many reasons to draw investment, Sichuan province now includes online negotiations as part of the region's slicker marketing scheme. This three-day online investment fair is just the beginning. Staffs accept foreign investors' appointments on different projects online, and arrange the project-owner and investor a time and a chat room for their further contacts and cooperation, in order to ensure the deal-making doesn't end when the fair does.
鈥淚n order to find people to cooperate with investors, we set up an appointment room, just like a never-ending movie, it keeps going on and on,鈥 said Xie Kaihua, director-general of Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Sichuan Province.
Although Sichuan governors say the online investment fair is only a new attempt, and they don't expect there to be many deals closed, Sichuan locals show great confidence in this new form of investment fair. In China's drive to accelerate the western region's development, previous hindrances that existed in transport and logistics may be overcome by internet communications, while the growing internet-savvy of local governments is in itself an invitation to overseas investors. After all, a local government that enthuses about deals done with the click of a mouse has to hold efficiency as a priority and formality as a mere nicety.
Editor:Liu Baoyin Source:
