High-rises are lit up on Siming district's Lujiang Road at sunset. LIN YUYANG/FOR CHINA DAILY

The 24th China International Fair for Investment and Trade held from Sunday to Wednesday in Xiamen, Fujian province, is highlighting Siming district to investors. As a central area of the city, the district has been forging a favorable business environment through a series of policy innovations and industrial upgrades.

At the event, a group of promising projects were announced to be based in Siming. These involve the headquarters economy, artificial intelligence, financial services, cultural tourism and film, healthcare and many other fields. The investment entities for them include Fortune Global 500 companies, listed companies, industry giants and foreign-funded enterprises.

There are two provincial-level projects and 96 district-level projects signed with Siming, with a total investment of 40.19 billion yuan ($5.67 billion). At the province's key investment project signing ceremony, the China Insurance Investment Fund's phase two project and the Xiamen UIB Healthcare's medical management project took to the stage.

China Insurance Investment Fund is a Chinese State-owned enterprise. Its phase two project involves a 5-billion-yuan investment, while the foreign-funded Xiamen UIB Healthcare project's investment is worth a total of 2.06 billion yuan.

The district-level deals signed at the fair included the China Everbright Financial Leasing project; AsiaInfo Security Technologies' global security SaaS (Software as a Service) operation headquarters project; China Railway Fourth Bureau's Xiamen project; Luckin's supply chain project and some cultural tourism projects. They will inject impetus into the development of Siming.

During the event, Siming district officials provided a detailed introduction to the industrial strengths of Siming, focusing on Xiamen's International Business Core District, the Binbei Super Headquarters Base and Kaiyuan Innovation Community. The latest information about the investment environment of Yongning county and Wuping county was also released.

Yongning county is also becoming a popular place for investment. Deals in the county signed at the fair involve the Satellite Link Bridge's remote sensing station, Meiyikang medical equipment manufacturing project and Hexiangxi community's industrial integration project.

The event also invited 12 high-profile investment institutions such as Kaihui Fund, Dazheng Capital and Joy Capital, as well as 12 commercial banks to sign agreements with Siming. Leveraging the advantages of the financial industry, the district will explore innovative paths to assist in the development of the real economy.

At the event, the district finance bureau introduced innovative measures for financial support, focusing on building a mechanism through investment and loans. An innovative framework under the joint efforts of Siming district government, investment institutions, commercial banks and guarantee companies was formed to provide enterprises with more flexible service and convenient financing.

Chen Guiyi, general manager of Dazheng Capital, said at the fair that the financial empowerment mechanism introduced by Siming district can better support business startups. By participating in the alliance, the company's business perspective was expanded.

Huang Weijie, deputy general manager of Xiamen Bank's Xiamen business management department headquarters, said that through close cooperation with Siming district and other institutions, the bank can better serve key and emerging industries. By using the investment and loan linkage framework, more enterprises will receive financial support to help them settle and develop in Siming.

Relying on the four pillar industries of software information, finance, commerce and cultural tourism, the district is laying down new track to develop the AI industry and improve the distribution of computing power, space and policy support. With commitments to leading industrial transformation and upgrading with technological innovation, the local industry is showcasing the integration of digital economy and real economic development, officials said at the fair.

Chen Fen, senior vice-president of AsiaInfo Security Technologies, said that the project of its global security SaaS operation headquarters in Siming will include the establishment of a cloud security research and development center in Xiamen in the future. It will provide comprehensive network security guarantees for Chinese companies going global and foreign companies entering China.

Yu Qingquan, founder and CEO of Xiamen Fangsheng Zhonghe Enterprise Service, said the company will use Xiamen as a base to serve more Chinese companies going global. Siming district has a high-quality business environment, which encourages companies to innovate in technology and provides many professional suggestions for business development.

Liu Hesheng, a professor at Peking University's Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center, said that this is the first time the laboratory has landed a project in Fujian, specifically in Siming. There is a concentration of medical resources in Siming district and the local administration has provided meticulous services to support it. The center will establish a medical service institution in Xiamen, which is expected to start operations by the end of this year.

With more investment and high-quality projects landing in Siming, it will provide more precise, caring and humanized services to create a distinctive business environment. In the future, the district will become a fertile ground for investment and an ideal place for living and working, local officials said.