Published by ChinaMNC · Shuangluan
Chengde’s Investment Push: What Foreign Founders Need to Know
Chengde’s latest investment conference highlights sector opportunities, project pipelines, and business environment reforms. Here’s a practical breakdown for foreign founders considering company registration or operations in China.
Chengde’s Investment Push: What Foreign Founders Need to Know
On October 27, the Chengde Municipal Government Information Office held the first press conference in its “Attract Investment, Launch Projects, Cluster Industries” series. The Municipal Development and Reform Commission (DRC) presented under the theme “Run the Main Track Well, Fight on the Main Battlefield, and Strive to Be a ‘Pacesetter’ in High-Quality Economic and Social Development,” and answered questions on hot topics. For foreign founders looking at China, such briefings reveal local priorities, sector opportunities, and the direction of business environment reforms. Below is a practical summary based only on the published information.
Investment and Project Overview
Since the 16th Municipal Party Congress, the DRC has focused on attracting investment, launching projects, and clustering industries. As of the briefing, the DRC had cumulatively attracted 21 investment projects, of which 3 were signed and 18 were under negotiation. These figures offer a snapshot of current deal flow, though foreign founders should conduct their own due diligence on specific opportunities.
Planning and Policy Integration
The DRC has actively pursued inclusion in higher-level plans and strengthened policy coordination. At the national level, the Chengde UHV expansion substation project has been included in the national “15th Five-Year” power plan, which addresses bottlenecks in new energy transmission. The city’s new energy installed capacity stands at 24.8 million kilowatts, with an expected 40 million kilowatts by 2030. Chengde has also been recognized as a deputy chair unit of the China Vanadium-Titanium Price Index Compilation Working Committee, forming a north-south collaborative development pattern with Panzhihua. The city has more than 150 key vanadium-titanium enterprises, with industrial output stable above 100 billion yuan.
At the provincial level, Chengde has been included in the “Beijing Surrounding Intelligent Computing Power Cluster” in the draft “15th Five-Year” plan for emerging pillar industries and future industries of Hebei Province, and in the “Zhangjiakou-Chengde-Langfang Data Infrastructure Industry Belt” under the provincial action plan for data industry development. Vanadium-titanium new materials and basalt fiber new materials are included in provincial special plans. At the municipal level, nine industry chain maps have been prepared and implemented, covering clean energy and energy storage equipment, hydrogen energy, vanadium-titanium new materials, and others, to guide chain-based investment, project landing, and industry clustering.
Industry Cultivation: AI and Clean Energy
Chengde is using artificial intelligence as a breakthrough for upgrading traditional industries, leveraging its energy endowment to deeply integrate advantageous industries with AI, and coordinating green power and green computing layout. In clean energy, the city is promoting a “five-plan integration” of wind and solar resource development, territorial space utilization, power grid layout, energy storage system configuration, and green industry development. It is advancing 32 wind and solar projects with a total capacity of 4.7 million kilowatts to ensure grid connection on schedule. Six green power direct-connection projects and six virtual power plant projects are underway, opening pathways for nearby green power supply and flexible adjustment.
In “computing-power synergy,” under the principles of “determining computing by power, by water, and by use, and avoiding homogeneous competition,” Chengde has planned a “two centers, multiple nodes” computing space layout and commissioned the China Electronics Engineering Design Institute to draft an implementation plan for new computing industry development. Several key cooperation projects are progressing: a green hydrogen-to-methanol integrated green power direct-connection demonstration project with CSSC Science & Technology has been submitted for approval; a computing project relying on green power direct connection with China Resources Group has completed site selection; a municipal strategic cooperation with China Great Wall Internet Information Center is expected to be signed soon; and the Yudaokou Saihanba Artificial Intelligence Computing Center has started construction and aims to complete within the year. The city is also in deep discussions with enterprises and institutions such as Zhongguancun, Tencent, SenseTime, Baidu, Shenghui Technology, and China Communications Construction Group, and has invited interested enterprises to visit.
Project Pipeline and Funding
Project construction is a key lever. Chengde aligns with national and provincial major deployments such as “six networks” construction, emerging industry layout, and additional policy funding. Following the “four libraries” approach—planning, preliminary, legal entity, and fixed investment—the city continues to push projects from backup to preliminary, preliminary to in-library, and in-library to construction, forming a rolling pipeline. As of the end of September, the city had planned 3,524 projects with a total investment of 683.5 billion yuan. This year, it has obtained support for 142 projects under “four types of funds,” with 3.34 billion yuan allocated. For key projects, a provincial and municipal key project library has been established with list-based management and ledger-style scheduling to resolve bottlenecks in land, energy consumption, and funding. This year, 160 provincial and municipal key projects have started construction, with a total investment of 119.8 billion yuan.
Business Environment and Services
Chengde has set up eight work task forces to provide “tutor-style” guidance, “nanny-style” service, and “closed-loop” implementation. For problems raised by enterprises, a “three-list” ledger of issues, responsibilities, and rectification is established. Project approval timelines continue to be reduced: business registration is completed within one day, and the approval time from project initiation to construction permit for investment, approval, and filing projects has been significantly compressed. The city fully implements “scan code to enter enterprise” supervision, with a law enforcement code display rate of 99%. Financing and credit services have been improved: 87 bank-enterprise matchmaking events were held, 2,508 enterprises were recommended, and new credit of 10.72 billion yuan was granted, with 8.43 billion yuan in loans disbursed, effectively easing financing pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Q&A Highlights and Future Plans
At the press conference, DRC officials responded to hot topics including local green power consumption, computing industry development, and modern logistics network construction. During the “15th Five-Year” period, Chengde will focus on four areas: clarifying development baselines, optimizing grid layout, seizing emerging tracks, and enabling low-carbon transformation, to promote three transformations in clean energy and turn resource advantages into industrial advantages. In the computing industry, it will strengthen top-level coordination, conduct precise “tip-top” investment attraction, advance computing-power and computing-network integration, and expand application scenarios to transform computing resources into new quality productive forces. For the modern logistics network, it will build a “one core, three zones, multiple points” municipal logistics spatial pattern, continuously improve road-rail-air multimodal transport channels, and set up a three-level node system of “municipal core hub—county branch hub—township collection and distribution points.” It will also improve the “1+9+N” express logistics system, advance the construction of a 6 million yuan logistics network smart platform, deepen school-enterprise cooperation to address talent shortages, and strive to build a multimodal transport and supply chain hub in northeastern Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei.
Practical Takeaways for Foreign Founders
For foreign founders considering company registration or operations in China, Chengde’s briefing signals several practical points. First, the city is actively attracting investment in clean energy, AI computing, vanadium-titanium materials, and logistics, which may offer sector-specific opportunities. Second, the business environment reforms—such as one-day business registration and reduced approval timelines—can ease setup processes, though foreign founders should verify current procedures with local authorities. Third, the project pipeline and funding support indicate local government priorities, which can inform partnership or supplier decisions. Finally, the emphasis on “tutor-style” and “nanny-style” services suggests a supportive stance toward enterprises, but foreign founders should engage professional advisors to navigate regulatory requirements.
This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.
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