Lingang hosts top 'Going Global' meet of Chinese-funded firms

The high-level "Going Global" conference of Chinese-funded enterprises was held in the Lingang Special Area on Friday.

The conference, with the theme of "New Area Going Global and Win-Win with the World," was attended by more than 1,000 representatives from foreign embassies and consulates, official investment promotion agencies, overseas enterprises, domestic and foreign professional service providers, and academic institutions.

Apart from the opening ceremony, there were four sub-forums: "Joining Hands to Innovate: Exploring New Routes in Southeast Asia," "Middle East Opportunities: Building a New Blue Ocean for Chinese Enterprises Going Global," "Breaking Waves to Go Global: Global Opportunities and Challenges for Digital Economy Enterprises," and "New Area Going Global: Going Global in the Field of Engineering Construction."

The Lingang Special Area is focusing on building the distinctive brand of "SAGG (Special Area Going Global). Holding the 2025 "Going Global" conference is another solid step taken by Lingang in assisting Chinese enterprises to "go global."

At the conference, the Lingang Special Area Foreign Affairs Center was unveiled and 20 key service agencies for enterprises going abroad signed contracts for centralized settlement.

At the same time, 13 Lingang Special Area "Going Global" national service stations and 24 overseas liaison stations were simultaneously released.

A series of measures signify that Lingang will establish a comprehensive and multi-level overseas service guarantee system, helping Chinese enterprises integrate into the global industrial chain more efficiently, steadily, and conveniently.

From the coast of the East China Sea to the world coordinates, the special area decoded the high-quality "Lingang Plan" for Chinese enterprises to go global with the concept of "1, 10, and 100" at the conference.

Lingang is the first in the country to relax restrictions on non-resident merger and acquisition loans in terms of loan ratios and terms, further meeting the financing needs of "going global" enterprises.

Thanks to this advantageous policy, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has successfully completed the approval of its first technology enterprise cross-border merger and acquisition loan pilot business, providing M&A loans for a specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprise's cross-border M&A of a well-known foreign technology enterprise.

Ten measures to support enterprises' "going global" development have been released in Lingang. They closely focus on the full life cycle needs of enterprises' "going global," setting up four major support areas, including supporting the headquarters of enterprises' "going global," supporting the development of professional service institutions, and supporting the holding of high-level foreign investment theme activities, in order to optimize the soft environment for enterprises' "going global" services, further strengthen global resource allocation capabilities, and build a higher-level open economic system.

Meanwhile, more than 300 service agencies have settled in the special area's "Going Global" comprehensive service platform, providing high-quality professional services to support enterprises' high-level going global.

The Lingang Special Area Administrative Committee will establish a comprehensive service platform for "going global" that combines online and offline services in June 2025, creating a solid foundation for enterprises to go global with high quality.

At the conference, innovative achievements such as the "AI plus Going Global" intelligent solution and the "Going Global Platform Service Specification" for Lingang were also launched, which improves and standardizes the various service processes required by enterprises in the process of going global.

The conference marked the establishment of a comprehensive and multi-level overseas service guarantee system in the special area to assist Chinese enterprises in "going global."

Looking ahead to the future, by continuously optimizing the business environment and deepening institutional innovation, Lingang will continue to build a global hub for resource allocation and an important test ground for international investment and trade, attracting more domestic and foreign enterprises and talents to gather here and jointly promote high-quality economic development.

Chung Ruyu, chief affairs officer for International Cooperation in Lingang Special Area, told Shanghai Daily, "Lingang has significant advantages in being a pioneer and facilitating cross-border finance offshore trade and cross-border data flow, and provides a more convenient environment for enterprises to go global.

"Lingang already has a rich industrial ecological chain, modern service industry, and technological innovation enterprises. Lingang's high-level international economic openness and high-standard economic and trade rules also provide a more complete platform that meets international standards for Chinese enterprises to invest and cooperate overseas.

"In addition, one-stop services such as law, finance and arbitration greatly reduce the cost and increase the benefits of enterprises going global."

Sun Canglong, chairman of the Lingang Special Area Economic Development Co Ltd, added, "At present, going global is the top priority for enterprises.

"China is a manufacturing powerhouse and needs to further enhance its competitiveness in the international market in the future. The layout of globalization is a must-have."