On June 22, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance issued the "Action Plan for Utilizing Foreign Investment to Stabilize and Promote Excellence" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which prioritizes expanding market access and focuses on the three major industries of services, finance, and pharmaceuticals.

As a major province in China for utilizing foreign investment, Shandong has consistently ranked among the top tier in terms of actual foreign investment scale, serving as an important sample of changes in foreign investment in China.

On July 7th, 2026, the Shandong Province International Trade and Investment Advisory Roundtable was held in Jinan. International trade and investment advisors from more than 10 countries and regions around the world provided suggestions and recommendations for Shandong's high-quality development and expansion of high-level opening up at the beginning of the 15th Five Year Plan period.

At this meeting, Wang Junjie, Director of CBRE China and Head of Huabei District Strategic Advisory Department, put forward multiple suggestions on deepening institutional openness, optimizing the business environment, and promoting green transformation in the manufacturing industry.

Wang Junjie stated in an interview with the Economic Observer that Shandong is the core layout point of CBRE's northern region in China's overall layout. Shandong has the most complete 41 industrial categories in the country, with a complete industrial chain and efficient upstream and downstream coordination, providing a solid industrial foundation for foreign investment to settle in immediately.

CBRE is a leading global commercial real estate services and investment firm and a Fortune Global 500 company. The company has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for nearly 40 years, always keeping up with the pace of foreign investment layout. Its presence can be seen in every aspect of foreign investment landing in China.

Wang Junjie stated that the service industry, financial industry, and pharmaceutical industry are exactly the sectors where CBRE excels and has the most concentrated business. Foreign investment entering these new tracks, from finding suitable venues, to completing asset transactions, and ultimately landing operations, is the core business of CBRE. This has brought new growth opportunities to the company.

Catch the new round of foreign investment dividends

Economic Observer: CBRE has been deeply rooted in China for over 40 years. What is the current development situation?

Wang Junjie:CBRE is headquartered in the United States and provides "one-stop" services covering the entire lifecycle of commercial real estate. Its main business segments include consulting services, advisory and transactional services, capital markets, project management, real estate investment, and more.

The company entered the Chinese Mainland in 1988 and started from serving the first phase of Beijing International Trade Center. Its business has covered more than 100 cities in China. It has set up offices in nine core cities in Greater China, and provides solutions covering the whole chain through eight core business lines.

Economic Observer: The arrival of the industrial boom will inevitably drive commercial real estate to take the lead. The "Plan" further relaxes the entry barriers for foreign investment in the service industry, finance, and medicine, and proposes to "support foreign investment in the high-quality development of industries such as medicine" and "guide more foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, modern services, and other fields". What impact do you think this will have on the company's layout?

Wang Junjie:After the policy is relaxed, it will bring a new batch of different types of property demand, which is a clear growth opportunity for the company.

Specifically, the expansion of foreign-funded enterprises in finance and professional services will increase the demand for high-end office buildings and flexible office spaces; The acceleration of pharmaceutical research and development and the landing of medical device projects has made professional spaces such as life science industrial parks, GMP standard laboratories, and pharmaceutical cold chain warehouses more in demand; The expansion of advanced manufacturing industry will also drive the demand for high standard industrial plants and science and technology innovation complexes.

In the face of these market changes, the company's business focus will shift from traditional commercial real estate to industrial professional real estate+foreign-funded full chain site selection services, and will extend to a series of professional supporting services, including pre park planning, corporate strategic consulting, urban renewal, etc.

Economic Observer: How will the company adjust its layout to follow the trend of the Chinese market?

Wang Junjie:The company's layout adjustment can be summarized into three steps: firstly, following up with the flow of foreign investment and directing resources to cities and industries with high foreign investment activity; Secondly, strengthen one's service capabilities in these markets; The third is to help foreign-funded enterprises transform policy opportunities into implementable projects, while also providing support for local industrial development.

Solving the problem of foreign investment operation

Economic Observer: The "Plan" focuses on solving the problem of "operation permit" for foreign investment in the manufacturing industry after "admission". China has opened the door to foreign investment at the macro policy level, but at the micro level of specific implementation and operation, foreign-funded enterprises may still encounter various hidden obstacles and thresholds. Has CBRE encountered such problems in its long-term service of site selection and implementation for multinational enterprises in actual business?

Wang Junjie:CBRE has been rooted in the Chinese market for many years and is not unfamiliar with the operational difficulties faced by these foreign investors after landing in China.

For example, the standards and criteria for qualification approval for the same business format are often inconsistent in different cities or parks, making it difficult for enterprises to form clear expectations before making decisions; Specific land use characteristics, energy consumption indicators, cross-border data compliance, etc. often hinder project progress; In the operational stage, there are still issues such as how to connect local Chinese standards with international standards, and whether government promised policies can be stably implemented. It can be said that this is exactly what the company needs to handle every day in the process of serving foreign enterprises.

Economic Observer: What role does the release of the 'Plan' play in addressing the aforementioned issues?

Wang Junjie:I believe that the 'Plan' has a substantial impact on addressing these issues.

Firstly, the "Plan" clearly states the comprehensive implementation of national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, and the Ministry of Finance has also stated that it will accelerate the reform of the government procurement system to ensure equal participation of domestic and foreign-funded enterprises in government procurement. This is a prominent issue that foreign-funded enterprises have long reflected.

Secondly, a specialized relief mechanism has been established to provide clear feedback and resolution channels for the problems encountered by enterprises in their business operations.

Thirdly, in terms of element acquisition, qualification licensing, and standard setting, the National Development and Reform Commission emphasizes the need to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-funded enterprises, guided by fair competition, and has formed more standardized rules and guarantees.

However, in order to completely eliminate various hidden obstacles at the micro level, a certain process is still needed. As a professional service organization, the company will continue to play a bridging role and assist in communication and coordination between foreign investment and local governments.

Overall, the 'Plan' fully implements national treatment for foreign investment, unifies approval standards for the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries, simplifies the process of mergers and acquisitions and profit reinvestment, establishes a closed-loop disposal mechanism for business bottlenecks, systematically connects the entire business chain after admission, resolves various hidden barriers from the root, and stabilizes the long-term business confidence of foreign investment in China.

Opening up the service industry brings new opportunities

Economic Observer: With the complete elimination of foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, the opening up of the service industry has become a top priority in the new round of institutional opening up. Unlike the heavy asset model in which foreign investment in manufacturing often builds factories in the billions, foreign investment in the service industry is more likely to land in the form of light assets such as office buildings and research and development centers. What new requirements does this pose for commercial real estate services?

Wang Junjie:A significant change brought about by the opening up of the service industry has shifted the carrier demand of foreign-funded enterprises from "acquiring land and building factories" to "finding space+full cycle operation", with higher requirements for operational support and services.

CBRE can fully leverage its full industry chain service advantages to provide a complete set of solutions from site selection, design, construction management to facility operation and enterprise services. Meanwhile, more and more foreign-funded enterprises are making green and low-carbon a mandatory requirement for site selection and operation. This also drives companies to incorporate ESG and sustainability as fundamental configurations in their services.

Economic Observer: How do you think the opening up of the foreign service industry will affect the demand structure of China's commercial real estate?

Wang Junjie:The impact of the opening up of the service industry on commercial real estate is specifically reflected in three aspects:

Firstly, the demand for high-quality office space will become even stronger. According to CBRE tenant research data, in the past three years, foreign-funded service industry enterprises have continued to return to the A-class office building market in first tier cities in China, becoming the core driving force for the growth of leasing demand and diversification of business formats. In cities with a concentration of foreign-funded service industries, Grade A office buildings, headquarters buildings, and research and development office properties will be more favored.

Secondly, the investment value of core assets will be further highlighted. High quality projects with stable cash flow and outstanding price risk resistance. Foreign service industry enterprises tend to settle in office buildings and research and development centers, which brings new growth to the demand for these core assets.

Finally, the market is upgrading from "renting a space" to "renting a good environment". Foreign tenants are increasingly valuing the comfort and green low-carbon level of their office spaces, which puts higher demands on the hardware facilities, operational management, and environmental standards of buildings, and objectively promotes the overall quality improvement of commercial real estate in China.

Continuously rooted in Shandong

Economic Observer: In this event, you put forward many suggestions about Shandong. Considering the current market environment and company business, which one do you think is the most crucial?

Wang Junjie:I believe that continuously optimizing the business environment is the most crucial.

Shandong is firmly positioned in the "first tier" of attracting foreign investment and investment attraction in China. It is a strategic location for seizing institutional opening opportunities and serving the real economy. While deeply cultivating traditional advantageous markets such as South Korea, Europe, and East Asia, Shandong is also actively expanding cooperation in emerging fields such as green and low-carbon, digital economy, etc., and its attractiveness to foreign investment continues to increase.

However, there is still some room for improvement in Shandong in terms of balanced development between regions, supporting cross-border new business models, providing high-end international professional services, and establishing risk hedging mechanisms for the medium and long term.

The optimization of the business environment has no end point. The key lies in the smooth operation of every link from policy introduction to implementation, which is also where the company, as a professional service organization, can continue to play a role. The company hopes to establish itself locally, deeply participate in and assist Shandong's industrial transformation and upgrading, and become a long-term partner for Shandong's development.

Economic Observer: What are the characteristics of CBRE's layout in Shandong?

Wang Junjie:The company's layout in Shandong is mainly carried out from three levels:

Firstly, with Jinan and Qingdao as the pivot points, connect global resources with local market demand. The company previously served as a "city partner" for the 15th National Games, deeply involved in Guangzhou's urban planning and industrial investment promotion, and assisted multiple multinational enterprises and international brands in landing. This "global network+local implementation" model is being replicated and promoted in Shandong.

Secondly, closely following the characteristics of Shandong's manufacturing industry with a complete range of categories and a long industrial chain, the company fully leverages its full chain service capabilities. The company in Shandong is not limited to traditional office buildings and commercial projects, but also focuses on related services such as industrial real estate and the real economy, providing professional support in areas such as industrial parks, logistics facilities, and scientific and technological innovation carriers.

Thirdly, integrate green, low-carbon, and ESG capabilities into the transformation process of Shandong's manufacturing industry. For existing spaces such as industrial plants and industrial parks in Shandong, the company provides one-stop services from energy consumption diagnosis, green transformation to low-carbon operation, helping Shandong's manufacturing industry meet higher environmental and sustainable standards in its transformation and upgrading.