Global investors and entrepreneurs have set their eager eyes on Shenzhen for the fifth straight year as the city hosted its annual global investment promotion conference at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center in Bao’an District on Friday.

The global investors’ get-together assembled more than 1,000 guests including senior executives of Fortune Global 500 companies and China’s top 500 firms, as well as foreign diplomats and representatives of foreign business associations. The conference witnessed the signing of over 380 projects involving investments surpassing 1 trillion yuan (US$139.8 billion).

In an interview with Shenzhen Daily, Siegfried Boerst, regional managing director of LEGOLAND China, disclosed that construction of the LEGOLAND resort in Dapeng New District in Shenzhen, which will be the world’s largest, is in steadily progressing.

Siegfried Boerst, regional managing director LEGOLAND China, talks to local media at the conference Friday.

“I think in the next six months or so, we will be able to announce an opening date,” said Boerst, who is confident that the theme park will achieve great success with its location in Shenzhen.

This year’s conference, its fifth edition, featured a main event, the Investment Results Exhibition, 12 district-level investment promotion conferences, and 10 activities at overseas subvenues.

According to statistics, the Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference witnessed deals on over 900 projects signed from 2019 to 2022, involving a total intended investment of over 3 trillion yuan (US$420 billion).

In 2022, Shenzhen’s actual use of foreign capital reached a new high at US$11 billion, accounting for 39% of Guangdong Province’s total.

A scene of the 2023 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference.