The Dream Factory of China

　　China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp. Group (COFCO) and Shenzhen Huaqiang Holdings Ltd. signed agreements with the Qianhai authority Monday to build their overseas headquarters in Qianhai.

　　Qianhai and Shekou are included in the Guangdong Free Trade Zone.

　　COFCO will build its international headquarters to engage in offshore yuan settlement, while the Huaqiang group will spend 20 billion yuan (US$3.13 billion) building its regional headquarters, which will handle overseas businesses.

　　The Qianhai Administration Bureau also signed an agreement with the Dubai Economic Commission to establish a cooperation mechanism and an alliance between the Qianhai Free Trade and Dubai Financial City to implement the Belt and Road Initiative.

　　Qianhai Investment and Shareholding Co. also signed an agreement with the Bank of East Asia to set up an Internet-based securities company, which is mainly funded by investment from Hong Kong.

　　At a ceremony, Tian Fu, director of the Shekou-Qianhai Free Trade Zone Administration Commission, said the four agreements cover international cooperation, upgrading industrial practices and raising local companies to the international level.

　　Between January and October, Shenzhen completed 20 billion yuan of investment in infrastructure in the free trade zone, including 16.5 billion yuan in Qianhai and 4.1 billion yuan in Shekou.

　　By the end of November, 68,600 enterprises were registered in Qianhai with 3 trillion yuan in registered capital.

　　Among them, 423 companies have a registered capital of more than 1 billion yuan each. More than 2,000 Hong Kong companies have registered in the area.

　　The tax revenue in the Shekou-Qianhai area reached 15.3 billion yuan by the end of October this year, 15 percent more than the 2015 budget of 13.2 billion yuan.