Chinese, US companies continue cooperation
International cooperation is vital to ensuring the sustainabilit y and business continuity of the global tech industry, and C hinese companies and their United States counterparts are working toge ther, instead of decoupling, to cope with the economic fallout of the COVID 19 pandemic, of ficials and e xperts said on Friday.
They commented after China’s top leadership said the nation will remain committed to openness, cooperation and unity for winwin results.
Liu Liehong , viceminister of the Ministry of I ndustry and I nformation Technology, said as the global economy is facing down ward pressure, innovation and cooperation are the only wa ys to ef fectively resolve contradictions that ha ve emerged during economic globalization.
“We call for all parties to better leverage their own advantages to jointly deal with the effects of COVID19 on the global supply chain, and to deepen partnerships in technological innovation so as to forge ahead together,” Liu said on the sidelines of the ongoing third China International Import Expo.
Liu was reac ting to the speech by President X i Jinping at the opening ceremony of the third CIIE on Wednesday. Xi said all countries need to come toge ther to jointly tackle risks and challenges, streng then cooperation and communication and embrace greater openness. Exper ts said the remarks highlight C hina’s commitment to open partnerships with countries around the world, which will provide sound opportunities for international companies such as US enterprises.
Xiang Ligang , direc torgeneral of the I nformation Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association, said some people worry that the pandemic and trade frictions are causing the decoupling of C hinese and U S tech companies, but in fact, they are deepening cooperation to cope with common challenges and advance joint innovation.
Matthew Margulies, vicepresident of China operations at the USChina Business Council, an organization of over 200 US companies that do business with China, said the importance of continuing engagement, especially technological engagement, has not changed.
“Despite challenges, China continues to rank among the top priority markets for U S companies. … US companies’ commitment to working with C hinese par tners remains as steadfast as ever,” Margulies said.
According to a council study published in August, 83 percent of U S companies it has sur veyed said China remains among the top five markets if not the most impor tant for them, and 91 percent of them reported profitability in China.
Because of mutually beneficial interconnections be tween the t wo economies, the US business community rejects any notion of technological decoupling, Margulies added.
One e xample is Qualcomm I nc, which is at tending the CIIE for a third consecutive year. At the e xpo, the US chip giant showcased a string of cuttingedge 5G smartphones and other produc ts that it has jointly developed with Chinese companies.
“As a multinational compan y that has been in C hina for more than 25 years, Qualcomm has formed a close cooperative relationship with the Chinese industry,” said Frank Meng, chairman of Qualcomm C hina. “President X i’s speech con veyed a positive signal that China will continue furthering openingup, which has strengthened our confidence in the Chinese market.”