Entrepreneurs and investors voiced their confidence in Shenzhen’s economic prospects and business environment on Friday at the 2025 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference, as the city strives to attract global investment to propel its innovation-driven growth.

This year, over 340 projects were initiated at the conference, with a total investment exceeding 770 billion yuan ($109 billion), covering emerging industries including electronic information, new materials, energy conservation, and biomedicine.

Addressing those attending the event, Zhu Bixin, director of the board and president of COSCO Shipping, said that as a national innovation hub, Shenzhen is striving to develop into an economic hub with greater global influence during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).

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To support this endeavor, the company will intensify its efforts to develop the city into an international shipping center with a well-established supply chain. It will also increase investments in the city’s logistics infrastructure and focus more on technological innovation in the shipping sector, Zhu said.

Shane Zhang, head of Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific Investment Banking and chairman of Morgan Stanley Securities (China), said that Shenzhen is at the forefront of China's reform and opening up, and is making significant strides toward becoming a global innovation hub.

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The trend is being fueled by a surge of Chinese companies’ overseas mergers and acquisitions, an increase of foreign capital investment in China, and a boom in company listings in Hong Kong, he said.

Zhang pledged that Morgan Stanley will partner with Shenzhen enterprises to expand their global footprint in pursuit of greater opportunities, leveraging its institutional expertise and resources to support the companies’ efficient growth in complex market environments.

The conference has attracted representatives from over 1,000 enterprises and institutions across over 30 countries and regions.