Guangdong officials and executives of Fortune 500 companies and other large foreign-funded firms meet to discuss improvements to the local business climate. Provided to China Daily

Businesspeople have varied reasons for choosing Guangdong as their investment destination.

But most have a few ideas in common - that investing in the province pays off and their investment decisions have proven wise.

"As one of the best-developed regions in China, Guangdong has an outstanding investment climate," Hattori Etsuo, chief representative of Toyota in China, was quoted by local media as saying.

"Toyota appreciates the well-developed industrial chain and thus the convenient access to raw materials and components," he said.

In the view of Kazunori Okuyama, president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp China Ltd, the fact that Guangdong attaches importance to high-quality enterprises and has the determination to transform its economic structure will make foreign enterprises focus more attention on new opportunities in the province.

"Guangdong seems to be closer to the world than any other region or metropolis in China, and the business in South China region - with the Pearl River Delta cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Hong Kong at the core - will be significant for the bank's development in China," he said.

Ed Chan, former president and CEO of Walmart China - who resigned just last week - hailed Guangdong's favorable geographical location neighboring Hong Kong and Macao along with the substantial consumption capacity and local people's awareness of innovation and willingness to accept new services and new things.

Chan also spoke highly of the rich variety and convenient supply of commodities from Guangdong's position as a major manufacturing base for China and even of the world.

"That makes the retail business extremely convenient," he said.

Chan's viewpoints were echoed by Peter Nestmann, general manager of Allianz China General Insurance Company Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German insurance company.

"Guangdong has a very dynamic market, and innovative products and services - the people have a strong sense of finance and are always ready to take in new things," he said. "And the government here has been making efforts to optimize the market environment."

According to Nestmann, Guangdong has topped all regions in China in insurance premiums since 2007, and premiums have maintained double-digit growth over the past five years.

Noting the competitiveness of the investment climate, Mei-Wei Cheng, president and CEO of Siemens Ltd, China, and CEO of Siemens Northeast Asia, advised the province to continue refining the entire environment to remain appealing to multinationals.

He suggested that the province redouble efforts to make the area cleaner and more orderly with less traffic congestion.

(China Daily 10/24/2011 page11)