China to remain crucial market for global firms

Country has advantages in attracting foreign investors with industrial competitiveness

China will remain a crucial market for global companies as highlevel opening-up, emerging industries and the size of the consumer base boost confidence amid subdued global investment sentiment, according to analysts and heads of foreign business chambers.

With China entering a new era of innovation and green-led growth, multinational corporations will focus on building digitally enabled factories and research facilities. They will also look to expanding their market share in sectors such as the automotive industry, green development, consumer goods and high-end manufacturing, they said.

The Chinese market is vital for many German companies, said Jens Hildebrandt, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in North China.

He said German businesses will keep investing in the country and they expect growth in many industries, especially in areas related to decarbonization of manufacturing, electric-powered vehicles and internet-connected vehicles.

Liu Chang, president of the government affairs forum at the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said China-US or China-EU decoupling is not realistic and any such move would likely harm both sides. The decoupling scenario would not be realistic because of market demand, supply chain stability, multinationals’ existing presence and the current growth in China and future development strategy, she said.

“After decades of growth, multinational corporations have fully integrated into the development pattern of the Chinese economy and its industries and become an integral part of globalization,” she said.

The actual use of foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland expanded 9.9 percent year-onyear to 1.16 trillion yuan ($168.43 billion) from January to November, while foreign-funded companies saw their export value grow by 2.4 percent year-on-year to 6.87 trillion yuan, data from the Ministry of Commerce shows.

While some countries are seeking to exclude China from their industrial and supply chains, the country has great advantages to attract foreign investors, said Zhang Fei, associate director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation’s Institute of Foreign Investment. Among them are industrial competitiveness, a supersized market and an improving business environment.

Sang Baichuan, dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said that against the background of a changing global economic and trade order, China is expected to further expand its high-standard opening-up. The country will strive to follow highstandard international economic and trade rules and introduce policies to facilitate foreign investment, Sang said.

Mohammed Alajlan, chairman of the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, which is based in Riyadh and Shanghai, said China has advanced technologies, services and products in emerging fields, such as AI, big data, biotech, fintech and automation.

“We have seen many cooperation efforts between Chinese and Saudi companies in the country, and there will be many more in the future,” he said.

To further improve the environment for doing business, local commerce authorities in China stopped filing and registering foreign trade operators from Friday, in accordance with the revised law on foreign trade, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

The relevant authorities will no longer require market entities applying for certain certificates and qualifications to provide foreign trade operator filing and registration records, the ministry said.

“We are optimistic about China’s high-quality development and the resilience of China’s manufacturing and supply chain,” said Wang Lei, global executive vice-president of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

“As China continues to deepen reforms and boost market confidence, we feel that China’s attitude toward opening-up has never faltered,” he said.

WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY Workers move a piece of equipment at a factory of German pump manufacturer Wilo SE in Beijing on Wednesday.