Amid a fragile global economic recovery, China's resilience and long-term growth potential — coupled with its continued push for greater openness — are creating fresh opportunities for US businesses looking to expand in the world's largest consumer market, officials and business leaders said on Thursday.
Trade and investment ties between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, are built on mutual benefit, they added, and stronger bilateral cooperation would help bolster global supply-chain resilience and put global recovery on terra firma.
"China will continue to open its economy wider to the world during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), while taking further steps to improve the business environment for foreign investors and ensure national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises," said Zhou Haibing, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Speaking at a roundtable meeting of the NDRC and US multinational enterprises, Zhou said all restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector had been lifted.
The updated foreign investment catalog, which took effect in February, is designed to channel more foreign capital into advanced manufacturing, modern services and green and high-tech sectors, he added.
"Clear and consistent policy signals are crucial for CEOs making global investment decisions," said Zhang Lipei, vice-president of the US-China Business Council, adding that China's commitment to further opening-up and improving its business environment would bolster US companies' confidence in investing and operating in the country.
China and the US together account for nearly 45 percent of global GDP, making the two economies key engines of global growth, Zhou said. Their economic relationship therefore matters far beyond their own borders.
The depth of commercial ties is evident in the roughly 84,000 US-invested companies operating in China, which generate close to $700 billion in annual revenue, he added. With the two economies highly complementary, continued cooperation remains in both sides' interests.
"China remains an important market for many US companies," said James Zimmerman, chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, adding that members were keen to explore how their technology, expertise, products and services could contribute to China's next stage of development and generate mutually beneficial outcomes.
The continued appeal of the Chinese market is underpinned by the economy's resilience and growth potential, with GDP expanding 4.7 percent year-on-year in the first half to 69.57 trillion yuan ($10.28 trillion), a pace above the global average and among the fastest of major economies.
Meanwhile, a vast and increasingly sophisticated consumer base adds to that growth potential. Home to some 1.4 billion people, China has a middle-income group of over 400 million and, according to International Monetary Fund calculations, is already the world's largest consumer market on a purchasing power parity basis, Zhou said.
"For US companies, China is not optional," the US-China Business Council said in its 2026 member survey.
The report showed that 92 percent of respondents said their China operations were profitable in 2025, up 10 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest share since 2021, while 51 percent planned to invest in the country this year.
Iris Cui, vice-president of Asia procurement and operations at Apple, said China remains central to Apple's global supply chain, with more than 80 percent of its 200 major suppliers worldwide operating manufacturing facilities in the country.
Cui said Apple had recently unveiled a range of new products, including the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone. "From early-stage product development to final assembly, work on the device was carried out exclusively in China," she said.
编辑：Zhou Jinmiao
