The pandemic may have brought cross-border travel to a standstill, but deals have shown no signs of stopping as international investors strive to tap mainland China's breakneck growth, according to industry watchers.
China's strong economic recovery this year, together with the government's promotion of the Greater Bay Area and other development projects, has encouraged international investors to plough their money into the world's second-largest economy, according to Lennard Yong, chief executive of Tricor Group, a consultancy that helps companies to expand in Asia.
Foreign direct investment in China grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade during the first quarter of 2021, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce last month.
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More than 10,000 new foreign-invested companies were established in China during the first three months of the year, an increase of almost half from a year ago, ministry data shows.
"The pandemic may prevent people from travelling but that does not affect investors' interest in the Greater Bay Area. We still expect to see double-digit growth of business related to the Greater Bay Area this year," Yong said in an interview at his Hong Kong office.
Tricor, a Hong Kong-headquartered company with 2,800 staff in 21 markets including Shenzhen, Singapore, Japan and Australia, has seen strong interest in investment going in and coming out of the bay area in recent years, he said.
Many international companies have established a presence in the bay area, which has a population of 72 million across nine mainland cities as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
In February 2019 Beijing unveiled a blueprint that included measures to draw capital and talent in to the area to help turn it into an economic powerhouse. The policy includes the upcoming Wealth Management Connect scheme for cross-border trading of investment products, leading big banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered to expand their manpower.
"China has gradually opened up its market to international firms to invest. The fast-growing economy and huge consumer market have attracted international investors to come to the country," said Derek Lai Kar-yan, vice-chairman of Deloitte China.
The latest case is BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, whose majority-owned joint venture BlackRock CCB Wealth Management in China has won approval to start operating in the country. American lender Citigroup, which has had a presence in China since 1902, is also seeking a licence later this year to open a wholly-owned domestic securities business after it was granted a fund custody licence in September last year.