Multinationals zoom into Chinese market
▶ New quality productive forces provide huge potential for cooperation
Top executives from multinational companies like Aramco, FedEx, Mercedes-Benz and Siemens AG reiterated on Monday China’s key role in their global operations, expressing their willingness to enhance cooperation with the world’s secondlargest economy.
The executives said that China’s high-quality openingup and efforts to promote new quality productive forces will provide huge cooperation potential for them.
During the China Development Forum 2024 (CDF), which was held in Beijing, Rajesh Subramaniam, CEO and president of FedEx Corp, said that China is a key part of the global economy, and the firm remains confident in the country’s growth potential.
Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of Mercedes-Benz, said during his speech that, after decades of relentless effort, China has become a global automobile powerhouse. Today, China is not only the largest market for new-energy vehicles (NEVs), but also an innovation hub with industry-leading companies and a mature NEV supply chain.
Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Aramco, said at the forum that reliability is a core element of mutual respect, trust and win-win cooperation. He said that it is also the reason why China maintains its position as the No.1 trading partner of Saudi Arabia.
Nasser stressed that China’s high-quality development has brought it good investment opportunities.
Regarding the new quality productive forces, Roland Busch, president and CEO of Siemens AG, noted that high technology, high quality and high efficiency are the vital components of future development.
“There are still huge opportunities [that China provides to foreign enterprises], as it enjoys a large population with an attractive market,” Peter Jungen, chairman of Peter Jungen Holding GmbH, told the Global Times on Monday.
China has stepped up efforts to open up to the outside world with high quality, as shown by the latest action plan unveiled by the State Council, the cabinet, to advance high-level opening-up and attract and utilize foreign investment with greater efforts.
Targeted measures include expanding market access in the high-tech and financial sectors, facilitating cross-border data flows and promoting international business travel.
“This is very important because we are just getting out of the three years of the global COVID-19 crisis, which led to a lack of trust and economic volatility,” Denis Depoux, global managing director of Roland Berger, told the Global Times.