Investors seek inroads to US at DC summit

For Liu Shoutian, chairman of the Beiyang Financial Leasing (Tianjin) Co Ltd, investing in the United States now looks so much easier than it did before.

Just two hours after US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker gave her welcoming remarks at the 2016 SelectUSA Investment Summit on Monday morning, Liu said he was surprised that the threshold of investing in the US was not as high as he imagined.

"I didn't realize that the US was so eager to attract foreign direct investment, in a sense even stronger than that in China," he said.

The SelectUSA Investment Summit, being held at the Washington Hilton from June 19-21, has drawn some 2,400 attendees from 70 markets, including about 150 from the Chinese mainland, the largest of all delegations.

Liu, who is attending the summit for the first time, said he is looking for opportunities in manufacturing and trade. His company's main investments in China are in healthcare and petrochemicals.

US President Barack Obama delivered a lunch keynote speech in which he touted the US as the place for investors in every aspect from innovation to global supply chain.

"If you choose a place to expand your portfolio, to place your bests, to open up a plant, to start building the next great new business or service, you should select the USA - because nowhere in the world and never in history has there been a better place to grow your business," Obama said.

Hu Bo, general manager of Senzhen HQT Petroleum and Additives Co Ltd, said he was impressed to find that the governmental test centers in the US are providing free services to businesses.

"That is probably why US companies can make such high-quality products," he said. "In China, such tests are very expensive."

Hu said he came to find out about the gap between his company's products and those in the US and also see if there might be a partnership for a joint venture.

Zhu Haicheng, deputy director of Hangzhou-based Zhejiang Chession Law Firm, said he came to the summit on behalf of his three clients in textile and equipment manufacturing who have been selling their products in the US market through trade companies.

"They hope to establish their own entities here in the US and a stable sales network," he said.

Zhu said these clients also hope the US market will absorb some of their excess capacity and build up their brand to compete with other global brands.

Like several of those present, Hu Huamin, chairman of Henan Aeroport International Flower Industry Co Ltd, was attending the summit for the first time. As one of the few in the Chinese delegation in the agriculture business, she hoped to find a US partner that shared similar goals.

"I want to see if there is a good investment opportunity for us here," she said, "and also if there is new technology and product variety we can introduce in China."

Xu Chen, president of Bank of China in the United States, also serves as chairman of the China General Chamber of Commerce (USA), an organization whose members are mostly Chinese companies in the US. He described the Chinese and US economies as highly complementary.

Xu listed real estate, healthcare, insurance, food processing, high-end consumer goods and the cultural industry as some of the hot spots for Chinese investors.

In his view, the fast-aging Chinese society will create a huge market for the healthcare industry. He believes Chinese capital and manufacturing capacity can be greatly enhanced with US technology to serve the Chinese market.

Chinese investors poured $73.52 billion into 4,136 non-financial entities overseas in the first five months of this year, up a hefty 61.9 percent from the same period last year, according to Shen Danyang, spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com