“Entrepreneurial paradise”: Beijing’s Shunyi steadily developing into the ideal place for living and business

Located some 30 kilometers from Beijing’s city center, the Shunyi district has been steadily developing into what local officials describe as an “entrepreneurial paradise”, offering fertile environment for global enterprises to invest and grow their businesses.

The district, with a population of over 1,3 million and an area of 1,021 square kilometers, is near the Beijing Capital International Airport and is home to a large community of expats.

Feng Jiangquan, the district’s deputy mayor, told reporters during a familiarization tour that Shunyi “serves as the capital’s key gateway of international exchanges.” He said that the district has recorded sustained, sound and rapid social and economic growth.

“As a major high-end manufacturing district, Shunyi has formed two industry clusters that are worth hundreds of billions of yuan, including the automobile manufacturing sector, and the aviation and aerospace sector, as well as a batch of industrial clusters that are tens of billions of yuan in worth, featuring the intelligent equipment sector, and the new-generation information technology sector,” Feng Jiangquan said. The official added that they are now accelerating the industrial transformation and upgrading around a new industrial landscape with the focus on high-end, precision and advanced tech industries.

As a main automobile manufacturing district, Shunyi houses 4 whole-vehicle manufacturers including Beijing Benz Automotive Shunyi Factory, Li Auto, Beijing Hyundai, and BAIC Off-Road; 7 R&D design centers including the BAIC R&D Headquarters and BMW R&D Center; and more than 150 upstream and downstream component makers, he said.

Shunyi offers a total planned area of 200,000 square meters for standardized advanced semi-conductor plants. In terms of the aviation and aerospace sector, the district has attracted a group of industrial leaders represented by the BCIA Group, Air China, China National Aviation Fuel Group, Ameco, and Rolls-Royce Engine. As of the end of 2023, Shunyi District hosted approximately 200 aviation and aerospace companies. BCIA Airport Economic Zone is China’s largest airport economic zone with the highest number of aviation services businesses. More than 4,700 domestic and foreign-funded companies from more than 30 nations and regions across the globe, such as Airbus, P&G, Allianz Asset Management are represented there.

In terms of the industrial finance sector, the deputy mayor said that it marks the third pillar industry of Shunyi District, right after airport economy and automobile manufacturing. Furthermore, local authorities seek to shape tourism with culture and promote culture with tourism.

“Prioritizing a development mindset that highlights culture + tech, our goal is to create a cultural industry cluster that integrates culture, tech and tourism, and present Shunyi’s new name card in high-quality development of cultural sector,” the deputy mayor said. He went on to describe the district as an “entrepreneurial paradise.”  “We are dedicated to finding the new entrepreneurial power globally and offering fertile ground for innovative ideas.”

The district also hosts an entrepreneurial summit, the HICOOL Competition, to bring together talents from around the world.

Currently, HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit and Global Entrepreneurship Competition is China’s only comprehensive global talent event featuring competition between overseas entrepreneurial talents. “Having concluded the fourth session, the event has accumulatively attracted participation of more than 22,000 entrepreneurial talents from more than 133 nations and regions with 16,000 projects,” Jiangquan said.

Moreover, local authorities are attaching great importance to environmental protection. Shunyi District plays a key role as ecological protective screen and water source conservation area, with Chaobai River and Wenyu River running through and tourist destinations including the Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Haishiqiao Wetland, and Wucai Qianshan Mountain. Shunyi has established the city’s largest “green lung” – Wenyu River Park. The district’s green rate reaches 56.57%.

Shunyi has been accredited as national ecology demonstration zone, national green model city and national hygiene city.

10,000 foreigners are long-stay residents in Shunyi. Overall, Shunyi District houses 12 top-notch international schools such as the British School of Beijing, International School of Beijing (ISB), and Dulwich College International; more than 900 foreign-funded companies represented by Airbus, P&G, Mercedez-Benz, BMW and Ameco, which includes more than 80 multinational corporations and more than 30 Global 500 businesses.

“Committed to continuously improving its regional business environment, Shunyi District is all about creating more growth opportunities for the market players,” the local official added.

The Luo Hong Art Museum, China's largest personal photography art museum showcasing the work of renowned photographer Luo Hong, is also located in Shunyi. 

This article has been written within the framework of the China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC) 2024 media exchange program.