“Multinational Enterprises Tianjin Visit” Wraps Up: 240 Foreign Participants, Tianjin to Build Long-Term Matchmaking

The 2026 “Multinational Enterprises Tianjin Visit,” held Oct. 21–23 in Tianjin, has wrapped up. 240 foreign companies, institutions and industry bodies from more than 30 countries and regions took part. At the industrial cooperation conference on the final day, the CITIC 117 Collaborative Innovation Center opened and 14 tech companies signed to move in. Tianjin said it will build a long-term matchmaking mechanism to follow up.

By FOCUS BUSINESS editorial staff

The event was co-hosted by the Tianjin government and CITIC Group under the theme “Invest in Tianjin, Win-Win Future.” It is Tianjin’s stop in CITIC’s “Foreign Enterprises in China” series.

What happened at the event

According to China News Service, more than 300 guests from 240 companies, institutions and industry bodies in over 30 countries and regions took part. About 60% were Fortune Global 500 firms, industry leaders and the like, and over 80% had not previously invested in Tianjin. Guests toured routes themed on smart manufacturing, tech innovation, the port hub and urban heritage, including Tianjin Port’s smart green terminal. The program also included a Tianjin promotion session, a roundtable of multinational and foreign-institution representatives, four meetings with city leaders and five targeted matchmaking sessions, with more than 100 visits and exchanges in all.

China News Service also reported that reinvested profits of foreign-invested enterprises in Tianjin rose 36.9% year on year in 2025.

Industrial cooperation conference and next steps

At the industrial cooperation conference on the morning of Oct. 23, cooperation projects were signed between foreign companies and Tianjin and between CITIC Group and Tianjin, though the number of projects and investment amounts were not disclosed. The CITIC 117 Collaborative Innovation Center opened, and the first 14 tech companies signed and moved in on site. The CITIC 117 innovation competition was also launched, with a dual-fund mechanism combining seed and technology capital. Tianjin said it will set up a long-term matchmaking mechanism that records leads and signed projects and assigns dedicated staff to track them until they materialize. Tianjin Daily reported that Eni of Italy, Honeywell, the German International Economic Council and others presented plans for investment cooperation in Tianjin, and that Tianjin and CITIC pledged customized services such as policy consulting, market research and resource matching. No new formal policy was announced.

Business Checkpoints

For Korean companies with entities or factories in Tianjin, the local sourcing and supply-chain links discussed at the event could be an opportunity to find customers.

However, no Korean companies were mentioned in the reports, and the scale of the signed projects was not disclosed. The support directions Tianjin outlined before the event, such as higher local sourcing and regular matchmaking meetings, still lack specific subsidy amounts or application requirements.

※ This article is based on China News Service (2026-10-23) and Tianjin Daily (2026-10-24) reports.