Editor's Note: The other day, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Action Plan for Stabilizing and Upgrading Foreign Investment Utilization. China and global capital are entering a new phase of "two-way engagement". By the end of 2025, the number of foreign-invested enterprises in China had reached 533,000, with cumulative foreign investment stock approaching $4 trillion. Investing in China is becoming a global opportunity. In this process, what high-quality "introduced" projects has Henan attracted? What sparks have these foreign-funded projects ignited with the Central Plains region? Starting July 1, the Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, together with Henan Daily's Financial Omnimedia Center · DaHe Fortune Cube, launched the special report series Foreign Investment in Henan", in hopes of showcasing the development achievements of foreign-invested enterprises deeply rooted in Henan, telling the Henan stories of fostering a sound business environment and serving foreign-invested enterprises, and pooling strengths for two-way opening-up and domestic-international integration.

In 2005, Master Kong arrived in Zhengzhou and launched its local layout. Over the past 21 years, Master Kong has established three food manufacturing factories in this city.

"It takes 18 production procedures to make a single bowl of instant noodles." said Wu Jiangfu, Deputy General Manager of the Supply Chain Department at Zhengzhou Tingyi Food Co., Ltd., in an interview with DaHe Fortune Cube. The factory is equipped with 15 fully automated production lines. It reached an annual output value of 1.97 billion yuan last year, with a projected breakthrough of 2 billion yuan in 2026. "This year we added a new production line for snack-style instant noodles, which has completely broken away from our traditional sales channels. Targeting the snack market, these products fit into diverse consumption scenarios such as catering, entertainment, and leisure." Wu added.

Two kilometers away stands Master Kong's beverage factory. In 2025, it produced beverages worth 1.9 billion yuan in annual output, with a yearly production volume of 750,000 tons.

Over more than two decades, these three factories have grown alongside Zhengzhou. In 2012, the Master Kong Group invested 700 million yuan to expand its instant noodle factory, covering 287 mu (about 19.1 hectares) of land. In 2023, the group increased investment and launched the Central China Regional Headquarters Project for Beverages, covering 132 mu (about 8.8 hectares) with a total investment of 1 billion yuan. It was positioned as the regional R&D center, the supply chain center, and the talent center.

Why did Master Kong choose Henan? According to Wu, Henan, located in the Central Plains, is a national comprehensive transportation hub. The Zhengzhou production base can efficiently serve the central, northern, and northwestern China, ensuring high cargo turnover efficiency and controllable logistics costs. As a major agricultural province, Henan is an important supply source of food raw materials. Flour, fruits and vegetables, packaging materials, and food machinery can all be sourced locally, conducive to reducing operating costs. Furthermore, Henan's large population and vast domestic market allow the enterprise to further leverage its advantages in large-scale production.

"The stable and high-quality business environment has also continuously strengthened our confidence in investment," said a relevant official from Zhengzhou's Erqi District. During the implementation of Master Kong's Central China Regional Headquarters Project for Beverages, the district adopted the "44335" enterprise service mechanism, streamlining procedures and parallel approval workflows to compress processing times. From the issuance of planning design specifications to public listing for land transfer, the project took only 24 days, nearly one-third less than the standard timeline.

From 2005 to 2025, Zhengzhou's GDP surged from 162.04 billion yuan to 1,524.46 billion yuan, a nearly tenfold increase. Modern food manufacturing has also become one of Zhengzhou's six pillar industries, continuously advancing toward high-end, intelligent, and green development. Master Kong's 21-year development in Henan represents both a deep bond between the enterprise and the city and a mutually empowering journey—the enterprise has contributed to the region's industrial growth, created jobs, and revitalized regional resources, while the land has provided ample space for the enterprise's sustained expansion.

Wu stated that for sustainable long-term growth, the enterprise hopes relevant authorities will provide more policy guidance and support for intelligent upgrading and core technology R&D, and build more platforms to facilitate collaborative innovation among regional enterprises. "In the future, Master Kong will stay rooted in Erqi District and deepen its presence in Henan, contributing its 'flavor power' to the high-quality development of the regional economy." (Reporter: Duan Weiduo, DaHe Fortune Cube; Translator: Hong Jianyuan)

Web editors: Shen Jianqi, Zhang Rui