Workers from the Commission for Discipline Work of Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone (HETDZ) study the case related to Li Jianping. (Photo: Global Times)

He Haidong, mayor of Hohhot, capital city of North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, bowed to entrepreneurs at a local investment promotion conference on Tuesday for failing to honor public commitments made previously, reported Changanjie Zhishi, a WeChat public account associated with the Beijing Daily newspaper.

He Haidong apologized to local entrepreneurs at the conference on Tuesday, noting that the municipal government has not concretely fulfilled agreements that were signed with multiple companies, adding the city has failed to follow through on promises made with entrepreneurs while attracting investment in recent years.

The investment promotion conference was set to fulfill those promises, as the regional government aimed to optimize the business environment in 2021, after the regional business environment was only placed at the 25th in China's mainland among 31 provinces and municipalities by a report published by the renowned Peking University.

He Haidong said at the conference that the Hohhot government would ensure companies to get paid on time and will stop offering empty promises to businesses in the future, with a total of 176 million yuan ($27.07 million) cashed out for 10 projects on Tuesday, according to Changanjie Zhishi.

Hohhot has struggled to maintain positive economic growth over recent years, with the city's GDP reached 317.36 billion yuan in 2016 but slumped to 260.14 billion yuan in 2018, according to the public data from Hohhot's Bureau of Statistics.

Even with a slight increase in 2019 as the city's GDP grew to 279.15 billion yuan, the overall economic performance has been slowing down since 2016.

According to a report published by the World Bank Group, China ranked higher than France on the Ease of Doing Business ranking in 2020.

Moreover, China has been working on supporting China's mid-west provinces and regions to optimize their business environment, Xinhua News Agency reported, which include the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.