‘Beware, China wants to rise again.’
After 2 months of China’s business hub city, Shanghai was closed because of Covid-19, now the government has to ‘reboot’ again or restart economic operations.
It is understood that the cosmopolitan image of the city has been tarnished with investors seen to be about to move out and foreign businesses seen to be reconsidering their investment plans.
Shanghai officials are therefore seen redoubled efforts to restore confidence among multinational firms by holding several meeting sessions with foreign firms and easing border requirements for foreign workers.
According to sources, the Shanghai government plans to hold 20 meetings this month involving foreign firms in key industries such as automobiles, trade, semiconductors and biomedicine.
Among the foreign firms to be selected are from among the major investment countries including the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.
In addition, the European Chamber of Commerce has been informed that the meeting in Shanghai no longer requires a special formal invitation letter called a PU letter.
This, according to a representative of the European Chamber of Commerce, will encourage employment and production in Shanghai, as well as encourage workers to return to work easily.
For the record, a PU letter was introduced in 2020 against foreigners who had to apply for a visa before entering the border when the epidemic hit.
In general, the previously introduced ‘zero-Covid’ policy has affected China’s economy and Shanghai’s competitive attractiveness.
The closure of factories, even though some were operating under a ‘closed loop’, made production difficult and indirectly caused some foreign firms to withdraw from the country.
Therefore, the ongoing ‘reboot’ measure is hoped to help restore economic vitality and growth that has stagnated over the past 2 years in the country.
