China's investment costs, such as land, energy, labor and logistics, generally follow the rule that coastal cities have higher costs than those of inland cities, and developed cities such as the first-tier and second-tier cities have higher costs than other developing cities.

In order to encourage more foreign investment in the key industries and related sectors, some local governments have launched a series of preferential policies, and reducing investment costs for foreign enterprises is one of them. To get more details of a city’s investment cost, please refer to the local investment website or go for a field trip.

In recent years, the lower operation costs, plus abundant human resources, and improved hardware facilities in central and western regions of China have created a favorable environment for introducing foreign capital. The growth rate of the actual use of foreign capital in the central and western regions is obviously higher than that in the east.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the central region covers Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, and Hunan, while the western region includes Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.

In terms of the costs of water, electricity and gas, we take the charging standards of Beijing and Shanghai as examples.