Foreign companies show confidence in Chinese market

Despite the protracted pandemic and increasingly complex global environment, foreign companies are casting a vote of confidence in the Chinese economy as they continue to see opportunities amid the country's opening-up efforts.

According to the 2022 China Business Climate Survey Report jointly released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) and PwC, around 60 percent of the surveyed companies said they made profits in China in 2021, and two-thirds of them plan to increase their investment in China this year.

Nearly two-thirds of AmCham China's member companies listed China as the world's top or among the top three investment destinations, the report said.

Another report, released by the German Chamber of Commerce in China and KPMG, indicates that nearly 60 percent of German companies in China reported improved business operations last year and 71 percent of them plan further investment in China.

China's undented attraction for foreign companies in a pandemic-jolted world came as a result of the country's steady economic recovery and improved business environment.

STEADY RECOVERY

In 2021, the Chinese economy injected strong impetus into the global economy with its 8.1-percent GDP growth. This year, China has set its economic growth target at around 5.5 percent, which is expected to uplift the global economic recovery.

"China's sustained and steady economic growth will bring more opportunities, and we are optimistic about the development prospects of the Chinese market," said Meng Pu, chairman of Qualcomm China.

China is one of Qualcomm's largest markets and innovation bases in the world, said Meng, noting that the company's cooperation with Chinese partners has expanded to fields including smartphones, integrated circuits, software, automobiles, the Internet of Things, and others.

Boasting the world's second-largest commodity consumption market, the country's retail sales of consumer goods rose 12.5 percent year on year to 44.1 trillion yuan (about 6.97 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2021, official data showed.

Herbalife Nutrition, an America-based global nutrition company, has noticed the increasing vitality of the Chinese market and captured Chinese consumers' growing pursuit of healthy lifestyles.

"We believe that the nutrition and health industry will enjoy rapid development in China, and we will continue to increase our investment here," said Woody Guo, senior vice president and managing director of Herbalife Nutrition China.

WIDER OPENING-UP

As China continues to open its doors wider, foreign companies are seeing more business opportunities.

Foreign companies in China are enjoying broader prospects as the Chinese government continues to promote high-level opening-up and innovation-driven development while improving the business environment, said Zhang Heping, head of Sanofi Greater China, a French healthcare company.

China has vowed to expand high-quality and institutional opening-up, grant foreign-funded enterprises national treatment, attract more investment from multinational companies, and facilitate the early implementation of major foreign-invested projects in 2022, according to the tone-setting annual Central Economic Work Conference held last December.

To further open up the economy, a shortened negative list for foreign investment came into force on Jan. 1 this year, with off-limit items cut to 31 from 33 a year ago. Notably, the foreign capital cap in the auto industry was removed, and manufacturing restrictions in pilot free-trade zones were also reduced to zero.

As a window to observe a country's opening-up level and reflect its economic vitality, foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 11.6 percent year on year to 102.28 billion yuan in January, official data showed. The growth was the fastest and the first double-digit increase for the same period since 2016.

Based on China's sound economic fundamentals and competitive advantages in market size, infrastructure, and business environment, Kang Yong, chief economist of KPMG China, estimated that foreign investment in China will remain at a high level in 2022.