Forum: Strong consumer base underpins optimism

The CEO: Growing with China forum, with the theme of New Year, New Opportunities, aired on Saturday.

China’s opening-up policy has presented new opportunities for foreign financial institutions like Swedish financial group SEB, with foreign ownership caps removed in many areas of the financial sector and expanded business scope for foreign institutions, said Peter Ling-Vannerus, chief representative of SEB Beijing.

He added that one area presenting a huge opportunity for his company and clients is the green transition that China is going through.

China has stressed at multiple top-level meetings that it will continue to expand opening-up. The Central Economic Work Conference, for instance, has pledged further opening-up at the institutional level, fairer treatment for foreign companies and steps to attract more multinationals.

Ibrahim Chowdhury, the World Bank’s acting lead economist for China, said maintaining an outward orientation and continuing the process of opening-up will serve as key drivers of the nation’s high-quality growth transition.

China has made a lot of progress in opening up the economy, and it is sensible to further open up services sectors such as professional services and IT-enabled services, which will help spur innovation, boost employment and lift economic growth, Chowdhury said.

Julian MacCormac, country director for China at Rolls-Royce, a British giant in power and propulsion systems, said, “China is a very important market for us and we will continue to be there.”

The company has long-term confidence in China’s aviation market, which is expected to become the world’s largest.

High-quality growth of China’s economy will also translate into a growing middle-income group and rising demand for products provided by Rolls-Royce, according to MacCormac.

Similarly, Guy Dru Drury, chief representative for China, Northeast and Southeast Asia at the Confederation of British Industry, said China’s strong consumer base and improvements in its business environment have underpinned the confederation member companies’ long-term optimism in the Chinese market.

Particularly, the country’s progress in strengthening intellectual property protection has been very “encouraging” for small and medium-sized member companies, Drury said, as these efforts have lifted the efficiency of patent registrations and cracked down on IP infringements.

Business leaders and experts also noted at the forum that ample space remains for cooperation between the world’s two biggest economies and that the so-called decoupling between China and the United States, if realized, will be very costly for both sides and for the world as a whole.

The forum, aimed at providing a platform for multinationals to exchange ideas and explore new business opportunities in China, was organized by China Daily’s business news department and www.chinaservicesinfo.com, a platform aiming to provide foreigners with services related to investment, study, travel, work and living in China.