China’s Hainan wants big names like Warren Buffett to come and invest
After Beijing says it will turn the island into a huge free-trade zone, the local government publishes a list of the world’s biggest business names it wants to talk to about setting up shop there
What do investment guru Warren Buffett, US media giant Time Warner, storied British public school Eton College, South Korea’s Samsung and global law firm Baker & McKenzie have in common?
The answer is they are all named in an expansive wish list put together by China’s southern province of Hainan, which wants them to come and invest as part of an ambitious plan to transform the sleepy sun, sea and sand tropical island into one of the biggest free-trade zones in the world.
Last weekend the Hainan government unveiled its “100-Day Campaign to Attract Businesses”, presenting a series of A-list names in the corporate world across sectors including tourism, services, finance and technology that it plans to talk to.
It said it would specifically target Fortune 500 companies, global industry leaders and well-known brands, asking them to set up headquarters, industry parks or undertake other projects in the province, according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency.
The campaign comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in April that the island province, famed for its palm-fringed beaches, would become a free-trade zone by 2020, the latest in a series of preferential policies granted by Beijing stretching back to 1988 aimed at boosting its development.