I will definitely agree with a government video I watched recently that Liuzhou has made several improvements to help simplify and aid foreign invesment. It may not be among China's "golden cities" for investment, but it is certainly a great opportunity, found by many, lost by many more.
Six years ago, when New Frontier Consulting was starting, obtaining a business license required running back and forth between all corners of town to an incomprehensible number of government bureaus to obtain their unique forms, seals, and permissions. Now, though China still does a fine job at keeping a respectable amount of red tape in any such venture, Liuzhou has certainly aided the process with the adoption of their "administration hall."
Now, many government bureaus have offices in one, central, get-it-done location: the administration hall. It really works. It is a nice compromise between a culture that necessitates miles of red tape and trying to find one convenient place to take care of all that tape. Of course, I sometimes do need to venture to a different government bureau building, but that is fine, since 90% of the things that need doing can be done in the "Liuzhou Investment Permissions and Certification Hall."
The idea to write about this was sparked by a city government video advertising Liuzhou's advances in infrastructure and investment opportunities brought to my attention on another Liuzhou blog site. The video is short and sweet, well, extra sweet at the end, but certainly telling of Liuzhou's improvements in the past few years.
The administration hall for getting down to business is helpful, and a move that has made a big difference to my business needs, but that is not the only improvement.
China is really keen on "development zones." To my understanding, that basically means a less regulated and totally blank section of town (or what will be town) meant to draw just about anyone: commercial, industrial, residential, or anything else you can think of. I seem to have lived my life in development zones in China. In Liuzhou, I lived in the "High-Tech Development Zone," which conveniently is very near the administration hall mentioned above. Even small county seats, like where I now live, have development zones, which have effectively doubled the size of town in five or so years.
At first, I found the development zone idea a bit odd. I could not quite conceive how they planned to fill these huge tracts of land in the short time periods projected. Of course, neither could many of us have really understood the incredible rate of growth we have witnessed in China the past few years.
When visiting a factory producing some of the rural materials marketed here on New Frontier China, they prominently displayed a photo of a field with a small shack and a car parked in the middle. The prominence of the photo combined with the poor quality of the photo sparked my interest too much to not ask why the massive display.
They told me that was the land on which the factory was now built. The photo was less than ten years old, and there is nothing to be seen besides trees and grass...and the shack. Now, walking out the front gate of the factory will reveal an entire district of town packed with factories and businesses.
The service Liuzhou government provides to investors has most definitely improved. Just as any venture in China will take some patience, I would not say doing business in China is going to be smooth like you may be accustomed to in your home country, but things are much closer to the simplified, convenient, prompt service of which the video speaks.
