On April 20, at the 2017 China-(Guangdong)-US Investment Cooperation Exchange Meeting, Invest Shenzhen and the Statistical Analysis System (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (SAS) signed an agreement for investment cooperation. Hu Chunhua (Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee & Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC), Ma Xingrui (Governor of Guangdong Province) and Charles Bennett (Consul General of U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou) witnessed the signing ceremony.

　　According to the cooperation agreement, the two sides will build a strategic partnership. Promoted by Invest Shenzhen, the American enterprise SAS will gradually expand its strategic layout in Shenzhen and plans to set up their Southern Operations Center in the city. In addition, SAS will foster innovation development centered on the data analysis industry, prepare to build a big data industrial alliance and big data analysis training center together with the local industrial community. Utilizing its technical strength and experience, SAS will also assist Shenzhen in accelerating industries related to smart city application construction and development to elevate Shenzhen's urban management level.

　　SAS was founded in 1976 and has headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, USA. It is the world's largest privately held software enterprise with global revenue of 3.2 billion USD in 2016. Its statistical analysis system (their main product) is renowned as the gold standard of statistical analysis software, and is widely applied in finance, communications, government, manufacturing and other sectors. In terms of advanced analysis and predictive analysis, SAS has over 31% of global market share and a commanding lead in the industry.