new economy

　　

Since the beginning of this year, China's economic recovery has accelerated. Ceos of many well-known companies around the world have paid a series of visits to China, and foreign companies are accelerating their investment in China.

Foreign companies' focus on China is intensifying. On the afternoon of April 19, a total of more than 70 representatives from 54 American chambers of commerce and enterprises in China came to Nansha District, Guangzhou, to attend the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Station", a high-level roundtable between the National Development and Reform Commission and American multinational Enterprises in China.

Securities Times reporters noted that representatives of ExxonMobil, Boeing, Honeywell, Baker Hughes and many other well-known US companies were present. Many US companies said at the meeting that they look forward to more cooperation with China. At the same time, officials from the National Development and Reform Commission also said that China is a real actor in promoting high-level opening-up and actively attracting foreign investment.

Us companies have confidence in the Chinese market

It is learnt that since 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission has established regular and institutionalized communication channels with American enterprises and chambers of commerce in China, and has held six round table meetings. This round table meeting is the first event in 2023. Li Chunlin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a highland of China's reform and opening-up, is committed to building itself into a strategic fulcrum for the new development pattern, a demonstration site for high-quality development and a leading place for Chinese-style modernization. "I hope this Roundtable will actively promote exchanges between the business communities of China and the United States. We welcome multinational enterprises, including US-funded enterprises, to invest in the Greater Bay Area and carry out more practical cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, green energy, ecological protection, Marine economy, biomedicine and other fields. With the Greater Bay Area as a starting point, we will deepen our business in China, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and create a better future for all."

"Since the beginning of this year, with the optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures, the recovery of human flow and logistics has accelerated, and the consumer market has continued to heat up. China's advantages in the super-sized market have maintained a strong attraction for multinational companies." Fu Baozong, deputy director of the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that in January and February, on the basis of the high base of last year, the actual use of foreign capital of 268.44 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent year on year; The actual use of foreign investment in high-tech industries increased by 32%. Six major landmark foreign investment projects were launched in an orderly manner, with a total planned investment of US $170 billion, of which over US $63 billion has been invested.

Fu Baozong further pointed out that the recent intensive visits to China by senior executives of multinational companies, all over the country have also stepped up efforts to attract foreign investment, foreign companies are increasing their investment in China. "They cast a vote of confidence not only in China's business environment, but also in the prospects of China's economic development. We always welcome all kinds of foreign investment, including US-funded companies, to deepen their investment in the Chinese market."

At the roundtable, foreign companies are equally confident about the Chinese market. Cao Yang, global Vice President and President of Baker Hughes China, said, "Our orders and turnover in China reached an all-time high in 2022, especially as our procurement volume in China increased by 50 percent over the same period last year. This shows that China's supply chain is very competitive and resilient, which also benefits us in the middle. We expect to add about 1 billion yuan in new purchases in China this year."

"The company established in Beijing is our first overseas company and so far the only overseas company, which shows our enterprises' confidence in the Chinese market. At the same time, we have signed a 25-year gas contract with China Gas in the Greater Bay Area, and our company is only 27 years old, which shows our confidence in the Chinese market." Source Transport company Greater China president Ye Jie said.

Michael Ho, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, says China is the most important market for most companies. "At the moment we are seeing a lot of companies saying they still want to keep their supply chains in China rather than moving abroad. Many US executives and company managers are visiting China. I hope this opportunity will help restore confidence in the market. "In one of our surveys, 60 percent of the companies surveyed said they would be happy to invest in the Chinese market if there were more openness."

Greater efforts will be made to attract foreign investment

In recent years, multinational giants have made increasingly large investments in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with many key projects located in the area. For example, ExxonMobil's Huizhou Ethylene Project, which will start construction in 2020, is the first major petrochemical project wholly owned by an American company in China, with a total investment of over 10 billion US dollars. In the 2022 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Global Investment Conference, 853 cooperation projects with a total investment of 2.5 trillion yuan, among which 48 major projects involving Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hyundai Motor, Siemens and other investors signed contracts on site, with a total investment of 180.1 billion yuan. They are distributed in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, new generation of information technology, food and health industries.

"Over the years, ExxonMobil has been investing in China and evaluating opportunities to meet the market's energy needs and provide high-quality products and services. We believe that through policy design and teamwork, we can further unleash the strengths and vitality of the private sector and business, such as supporting innovation, decarbonization, and matching carbon reduction with national and international standards. Our CEO is looking forward to working closely with the Chinese business and political communities to achieve our vision and goals." Said Tan Ranke, chairman of ExxonMobil China.

At this roundtable, Chen Yong, member of the Standing Committee of Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor, disclosed a set of data: In 2022, the GDP of Guangzhou reached 2.88 trillion yuan, the total retail sales of consumer goods and the total import and export volume of foreign trade both exceeded one trillion yuan, the actual use of foreign capital reached 8.784 billion US dollars, and 335 of the world's top 500 invested in Guangzhou, becoming an important connection point between domestic and international cycles. Among them, as of January 2023, there were 1,381 American enterprises with cumulative investment in Ethiopia, with contracted foreign capital of $3.302 billion and actual utilized foreign capital of $1.588 billion. Investment subjects include Procter & Gamble, Amway, Jabil, Fung, Mars, 3M, Wal-Mart and other key enterprises, involving scientific and technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, business services, information technology and other industrial fields.

"Recently, many heads of foreign companies, including US-funded companies, have come to China for visits, and we have received many letters of greetings from the heads of foreign companies. In addition to the factors of China's economic recovery, this phenomenon also reflects the enthusiasm and expectation of the vast number of US-funded companies to embrace the huge Chinese market, as well as the increasing attraction of China's improving business environment. Of course, there is no best business environment, but only better. To improve the business environment, we must always be guided by the satisfaction and sense of gain of enterprises." Gao Jian, deputy director general of the International department of the National Development and Reform Commission and first-level inspector, said that the National Development and Reform Commission will support local governments to fully consider the level of urban development and basic conditions, adapt to local conditions, encourage local governments to actively explore original and differentiated measures to improve the business environment within the framework of the rule of law, continue to advance standards, deepen reform, and promote equal treatment and fair competition between domestic and foreign enterprises. Jointly foster a first-class business environment.

In a briefing on "More efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment and steadily promote opening-up", Fu Baozong said that in recent years, China has deepened its efforts to expand opening-up, promoted fair competition among domestic and foreign-funded enterprises, continuously optimized the environment for foreign investment, promulgated the Foreign Investment Law and its implementation regulations, and incorporated the basic state policy of opening-up into the law. The management system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list will be implemented across the board. Domestic and foreign enterprises will be treated equally in government procurement, tax and fee reduction, qualification and licensing, and standard-setting, providing legal guarantee for the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors.