Sam's Club, the high-end membership outlet of U.S.-based retail giant Walmart, is opening China’s second Sam’s Club’s flagship store in Qianhai today.

The new outlet is anticipated to become the largest Sam’s Club flagship store in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and even the Asia Pacific region, according to a cooperation agreement signed between Qianhai Authority and Walmart (China) Investment Co. Ltd.

The American retailer’s major investment move has once again showed that Shenzhen stands out as an attractive destination for foreign investment.

Since the beginning of this year, a batch of key foreign investment projects have been initiated or expanded in Shenzhen, making it one of the most vibrant places in China where foreign capital keeps flowing.

“German businesses are attracted by Shenzhen because of its dynamic. The city is one of the most dynamic places over the past decades and businesses hope to reconnect here and find new opportunities after the pandemic,” Clas Neumann, chairperson of the Board of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, told Shenzhen Daily at the Sino-German Economic Forum in Shenzhen on March 29.

Siemens Healthineers, a German health care equipment provider, is betting big on the city’s innovation and manufacturing capacity. On May 22, it announced an additional investment of 1 billion yuan (US$138.62 million) to set up a new R&D and production site in Nanshan District.

Jerry Wang, president of Siemens Healthineers Greater China region, said in an interview with Shenzhen TV that doing business in Shenzhen since its foray into the city in 2002 has proved a right choice.

“Over the past 20 years, we have yielded very good investment results. We are very confident that in the coming years we will further develop in Shenzhen and make better innovations and products in the city,” Wang said.

On May 23, multinational auto parts firm Valeo inaugurated an intelligent manufacturing center in Bao’an District, an almost 1.1-billion-yuan project that underscored the company’s increased investment and production expansion in intelligent driving. The French company expects its sales volume to maintain a growth rate of over 20% each year in the next five years.

The firm established Valeo Interior Controls (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., its 15th factory in China, in Bao’an in 2005. In addition to Siemens Healthineers and Valeo, high-end equipment company TRUMPF and air taxi developer Lilium of Germany, Capella Hotels and Resorts of Singapore, and information and analytics company Elsevier based in the Netherlands are some of the key foreign investors that have made strategic investment moves in Shenzhen so far this year.

A fertile land for business

The increased foreign investment reflects that foreign investors have cast a “vote of confidence” for Shenzhen’s and China’s long-term development. It all comes down to factors such as industrial chains, innovative resources, government efficiency, geographical location and business environment.

For years, Shenzhen has been endeavoring to make itself more attractive to foreign investors with a spate of reform measures for optimizing business environment.

On Nov. 1, 2022, the Regulations on Foreign Investment in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone officially came into force, providing legal support for Shenzhen’s higher level of opening up and further enhancing the vitality of foreign investment in the city.

To elevate the quantity and quality of foreign investment, Shenzhen has identified 73 multinational corporations that set up their regional headquarters in the city, including Walmart, Vanguard, Kareway Health, PwC and YUM, and given a maximum reward of 6 million yuan to each of the recognized multinational corporations.

Data from the city’s commerce bureau showed that Shenzhen has so far gathered global enterprises from over 170 countries and regions, including hundreds of Fortune Global 500 companies.

From January to April this year, the city recorded 1,644 newly registered foreign-funded enterprises, up by 17.68% year on year.