Foreign firms expand investment in nation

Despite global foreign direct investment exhibiting a contraction trend in 2023 due to factors such as sluggish economic growth and geopolitical tensions, China's inbound investment flow remained relatively high in the past decade, said a report released on Wednesday.

In the first half of 2024, multinational companies continued to increase their investment in China and optimize their industrial strategies, with nearly 27,000 new foreign-funded enterprises registered in China, a year-on-year growth of 14.2 percent, according to the report, titled "Multinationals in China: Sharing New Opportunities of Chinese Modernization".

The report was released at the Qingdao Multinationals Summit that started on Tuesday in Shandong province.

The three-day summit has attracted more than 500 attendees from 451 multinational companies to share their views on the Chinese market.

Guests attending the event agreed that Chinese modernization will unleash substantial market demand potential for multinational enterprises.

AstraZeneca, a leading biopharmaceutical company, said it has decided to increase investment in its production facility in Qingdao, bringing the company's total investment in the city to $750 million.

"The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed a number of high-level measures for further opening up to the outside world and important initiatives to build new high-quality productive forces, further strengthening our confidence and determination to deeply cultivate China for long-term development," Leon Wang, executive vice-president of AstraZeneca, said at the summit.

Reckitt, a global consumer health and hygiene company with century-long connections with China, has been capitalizing on the long-term growth potential of China's huge market. In June, the company announced that it would establish a global research and development center in Shanghai, as part of its latest investment in China.

"The center will support the development of all our brands and categories in China and strengthen capabilities to drive competitive advantage and honorable differentiation," said Arjun Purkayastha, senior vice-president and managing director of Reckitt China, adding that it will test new products in China first and later market them to the rest of the world.

Multinational companies have traditionally tested new products in their home markets before global expansion and distribution. However, in recent years, this pattern has been changing. More and more multinational companies are establishing R&D centers in China, attracted by the country's advanced digitalization and robust infrastructure, which create ideal conditions for market expansion and technological advancement.

Wang Qiang, vice-president of the Beijing-based Commerce Economy Association of China, said, "The increasing localization of management and technical talent in China has become a significant advantage, which is helping foreign companies fortify their presence in the local market."

Oil giant Saudi Aramco is not only investing in products, but also in people. For more than 25 years, the company has been sponsoring Saudi students who want to come to China to learn the Chinese language, get a higher education and experience the Chinese way of life.

"These young people not only learn Mandarin, but gain fluency in other important areas, like business and culture, bringing our nations ever closer together," said Yasser M. Mufti, executive vice-president of Saudi Aramco. "These investments in both people and products will help us achieve our shared goals and vision."

Mohammed Al Ajlan, chairman of the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, said the summit is a convincing example of China's determination and effort to advance open-up and encourage high-quality partnerships with multinationals.