Skyscrapers border the lush green landscaping in Shenzhen's central business district. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over 240 projects were signed at the 2020 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday, with investment expected to hit 780 billion yuan ($119 billion).

The launch of the event is part of Shenzhen's broader efforts to push forward high-quality and sustainable development with the aim of building a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Shenzhen Party Secretary Wang Weizhong said the city will offer 15 square kilometers of industrial space this year for global enterprises to set up business there. In 2019, 30 square kilometers of land were taken out by the local government.

Wang reiterated that any high-quality project that meets Shenzhen's industrial development strategy and the city's high-quality and sustainable development demand will be able to secure land in the city.

A pioneer of China's reform and opening up, Shenzhen has been a popular destination for foreign investment. According to the Commerce Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, Shenzhen's actual use of foreign capital amounted to $7 billion in the first 10 months of this year, growing 7.58 percent year-on-year, with the Hong Kong special administrative region, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore being the main sources.

The city is accelerating legislation on the promotion of foreign investment to create more a favorable business environment and better protect the legal rights and interests of foreign investors.

"We want to stay in Shenzhen and keep investing because we believe that its business environment is extremely friendly to companies," said Andreas Schneck, general manager of Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd.

Schneck said he is most impressed by the innovation power of Shenzhen and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. "This is what we find the most important and the most interesting in Shenzhen for companies like us," he said.

About 300 enterprises and institutions from a range of fields, including new-generation information technology, advanced manufacturing, biomedicine, new material and finance, took part in the conference.