Chinese mayor: Three reasons US investors should come to Guangzhou

Global Business

Chinese mayor: Three reasons US investors should come to Guangzhou

Senior officials from one of China’s largest cities said China warmly welcomes U.S. investors.

Cai Chaolin, vice mayor of the southern Chinese megacity, Guangzhou, made that comment at a Fortune 500 Executives Forum in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

“As the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world moves into uncharted territories the private sector and cities such as Guangzhou can play an even more important role in strengthening bonds and economic development.” Cai said.

Guangzhou is part of the Pearl River Delta—the world’s largest megacity. With a metro area population of around 42 million, more people live in this region than in California—and accounts for around 11 percent of China’s total GDP.

Along with Beijing and Shanghai, the Guangzhou area is one of China’s Big Three tech and innovation hubs, and already serves as a major gateway between East and West.

The Fortune 500 forum held in Washington, D.C., drew more than 100 leaders from top U.S. companies, trade organizations and policymakers. They outlined ways to insure trade between the world’s two largest economies continues to grow. Executives from U.S.-based Fortune 500 companies also discussed the forces shaping the future of globalization, trade and innovation.

Watch: Three Reasons Global and U.S. investors should come to Guangzhou.



At the forum, Guangzhou announced the opening of the city’s liaison offices in Boston and Silicon Valley, California.

Guangzhou is the region’s largest city, and the third largest in China. It is the Asia-Pacific base for many of the world’s most innovative and fastest growing companies, benefiting from our world-class transportation links into China and the region. Guangzhou-based companies invested more than $5.3 billion internationally in 2016, and nearly half of all Fortune 500 companies have operations in the city.

For more than 2,000 years, Guangzhou – also known as Canton – has been a major hub connecting China to the world. Imports to China through Guangzhou exceeded $52 billion in 2015, and the city facilitated nearly $7 billion of foreign investment into China in 2016. Guangzhou has become one of the world’s largest markets, with consumers spending more than $119 billion every year.

The Chinese mayor’s speech was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Nina Easton, co-chair of the Fortune Global Forum. With the theme “Strengthening U.S.-Sino Commercial Ties in a Dynamic Global Context,” the discussion featured U.S. representatives from the private and public sector, including:

  • Karan Bhatia, Vice President for Global Government Affairs, General Electric
  • Audrae Erickson, Vice President for Government Affairs, Mead Johnson
  • Tim Fenton, VP, Global Government Relations, Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Henry Levine, Senior Advisor, Albright Stonebridge Group and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia, U.S. Department of Commerce

The panel discussion helped set the agenda for the Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou from December 6 to 8, 2017. It will be the 5th Fortune Global Forum in China.