General

The proposal of the "the Belt and Road" initiative has awakened the historical memory shared by the countries along the line and China. In the past decade, the "the Belt and Road" has become a popular international public product. A large number of large-scale infrastructure construction projects have made progress, and the "small and beautiful" project highlights have emerged frequently. On this basis, we also need to further realize that the "the Belt and Road" construction is not a simple "going out" channel for Chinese enterprises, but an important platform for two-way interaction between China and countries along the Belt and Road.

This is not only reflected in international trade import and export, but also increasingly in the field of two-way investment. According to the data recently released by the Ministry of Commerce, China attracted 408.45 billion yuan of foreign investment in the first quarter, up 4.9% year on year, and the investment of countries along the "the Belt and Road" in China increased by 27.8%; In the first quarter, China's direct investment in countries along the "the Belt and Road" was 5.76 billion US dollars, up 9.5% year on year, accounting for 18.3% of the total amount in the same period. Although this cannot be separated from the significant driving effect of large-scale projects, the contribution made by small and medium-sized enterprises cannot be ignored.

Throughout the 45 years of reform and opening up, China's opening-up has entered a new stage, and the development space for small and medium-sized enterprises has been greatly expanded. In the early stages of reform and opening up, China mainly focused on "bringing in", and the focus of attracting foreign investment was also on enterprises from developed countries and giants such as the Fortune 500; With the takeoff of the Chinese economy, Chinese enterprises are gradually investing and building factories overseas, entering the stage of "going global". Large enterprises are also more capable of competing in the international trade market; Nowadays, China's economic strength has been improved and has entered a stage where both "going global" and "bringing in" are equally important. The enterprises that invest and start business in China are not only giants such as developed country enterprises and Fortune 500 enterprises, but also developing country enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. More and more small and medium-sized enterprises are also "going global". Especially after the construction of the "the Belt and Road" enters the stage of "meticulous painting", the role of SMEs will become more and more important.

Small and medium-sized enterprises in China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" have cooperation needs and complementary advantages. There are both developing countries and developed countries along the "the Belt and Road". Small and medium-sized enterprises in different countries have different characteristics, but there is always a common problem, that is, the capacity required to expand the international trade market is difficult to expand due to various factors, especially the shortage of capital, technology and talent faced by small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries is more prominent, and the lack of capacity is normal; It is relatively easy for Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their production capacity, but internationalization started relatively late and they are unfamiliar with the international market, making it difficult to expand their business. Even Hermann Simon, the father of the "invisible champion", has stated that Chinese invisible champion enterprises are more ambitious than German enterprises, but the degree of internationalization is relatively low. In response to these situations, one of the choices for small and medium-sized enterprises is to cooperate with large enterprises, but their voice is low and their rights and interests are difficult to protect; Another option is for small and medium-sized enterprises to cooperate in both directions and establish joint ventures in one or both countries, in order to achieve the goal of being close to the market or expanding production capacity, which is more likely to form a mutually beneficial and win-win situation.

Bilateral cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises can not only promote local economic development, but also improve the industrial ecology. Just like the characteristics of Chinese SMEs in the "May, June, July, and August" period, SMEs in countries along the "the Belt and Road" also play an important role in local economic development. If technical cooperation is carried out between small and medium-sized enterprises, it will form a technology Spillover effect, which is conducive to training local talents in relevant industries and improving the scientific and technological level of local enterprises; If capacity cooperation is carried out, enterprises can better layout their production departments for international trade, which not only solves problems such as expanding production capacity and difficulty entering the market, but also helps to increase employment. Especially for China, the "14th Five Year Plan for Business Development" proposes that by 2025, the proportion of foreign investment absorbed by high-tech industries will increase to 30%, which cannot be separated from the investment of small and medium-sized enterprises in China.

Investment in small and medium-sized enterprises will be beneficial for forming new international competitive advantages and optimizing the business environment. When a large enterprise grows to a certain extent, it will inevitably experience a "big company disease", which not only affects its own development, but also hinders the innovative development of other enterprises, thereby hindering local economic development. If the two-way investment of small and medium-sized enterprises is vigorously developed, it will help to overcome this dilemma. Especially in the current era where a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping production, life, and trade methods, new formats and models are emerging in an endless stream, and countries are actively striving for a voice in new fields and issues. The arrival of science and technology innovation oriented small and medium-sized enterprises may form new advantages in international competition. In addition, SMEs are not only sensitive to the smell of market development, but also sensitive to the business environment. Whether China or countries along the "the Belt and Road", they can timely capture the demands of SMEs and make corresponding adjustments, which is conducive to continuously improving the business environment, thus creating conditions for attracting more enterprise investment.

Compared with large enterprises, it is quite difficult to promote two-way investment of SMEs under the framework of the "the Belt and Road". This requires China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" to change their concepts, pay more attention to SME investment, and introduce top-level design systems or formulate some corresponding policies on how to carry out "small and beautiful" projects. Of course, various types of training should also be provided for small and medium-sized enterprises to help them find partners or intermediaries, laying a solid foundation for their further expansion in the international trade market. In short, only by letting the two-way investment vitality of SMEs participating in the "the Belt and Road" construction burst, can the "fine brushwork" of the "the Belt and Road" construction be perfected, and can the new potential of deepening the "the Belt and Road" two-way investment cooperation be stimulated.