Executives and officials say China’s commitment to promoting development can benefit foreign investors

Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the opening of the tech giant’s eighth store in Shanghai on March 21, 2024. (GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY)

China’s commitment to nurturing new quality productive forces while promoting high-quality development and advancing new industrialization is set to provide domestic as well as foreign investors with enormous market opportunities and vast development prospects amid the rising uncertainties in the global economic landscape, senior officials and company executives said.

They made the remarks at the opening of the two-day China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing on March 24, a few weeks after the world’s second-largest economy unveiled its 5 percent growth target.

The Chinese economy has started the year on a positive trajectory, underpinned by effective macroeconomic policies.

With stable production growth, sustained recovery in demand, and other positive factors, the country is confident and capable of achieving its major economic and social development goals, said Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

In particular, China’s active cultivation of new quality productive forces not only promotes its own economic growth but also injects much-needed momentum into global economic recovery and expansion, Zheng said.

New quality productive forces signify a paradigm shift in productivity, primarily propelled by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and profound industrial transformation and upgrading.

China is ramping up efforts to cultivate emerging industries, foster the deep integration of digital technology with the real economy and the convergence of advanced manufacturing with modern services, and create new growth engines in sectors such as biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, new materials, and low-altitude economy, Zheng said.

Jin Zhuanglong, minister of industry and information technology, said that China will continue to expand high-level opening-up, implement the measures regarding the complete removal of restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with companies across the globe, to bolster the optimization and upgrade of industrial and supply chains.

Jin emphasized that foreign-funded enterprises are playing a vital role in stabilizing China’s industrial economy and promoting high-quality development. 

Despite facing mounting uncertainties and challenges, including a complicated and grim external environment, China is willing to work with other countries to establish a global industrial and supply chain system that is secure, stable, smooth, efficient, open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial, Jin said.

With its output accounting for more than 30 percent of the global total, China is the world’s largest manufacturer, ranking first for 14 consecutive years, according to the ministry.

Ling Hai, president for the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Mastercard, said that China’s fundamentals remain very strong for reasons including the ingenuity and creativity of the Chinese people as well as the government’s commitment to reform and opening-up.

Furthermore, China’s continuous efforts to boost innovation and technological development are key to unleashing its growth potential, he said.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said that China is at the forefront of emerging economies in terms of artificial intelligence (AI) preparedness, with well-developed digital infrastructure providing a head start.

Establishing a robust AI regulatory framework and strengthening economic ties with other innovative countries will help China power ahead, Georgieva said, adding that in the medium term, China will continue to be a key contributor to global economic growth.

Finance Minister Lan Fo’an said that China will reinforce fiscal policies to drive industrial upgrades, foster the growth of emerging industries, and cultivate future sectors.

By adopting a region-specific approach to forging new quality productive forces, the government aims to shape new drivers and advantages for sustainable economic growth, he added.

Jin Liqun, president and chairman of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said the development of new quality productive forces can benefit from proactive fiscal policies.

Jin Liqun emphasized that it is essential to steer clear of fiscal policies that stifle the motivation for production and innovation, and the creation of wealth.

Raj Subramaniam, president of United States-based logistics provider FedEx Corp, said the company’s growth has been greatly empowered by the long-term commitment to invest in and grow with China.

Over the past 40 years, China has become home to one of the largest FedEx operations in the world.

“We believe that open markets and collaboration are critical to expanding growth and prosperity for all. We’re committed to exploring new opportunities in China, and leveraging our digital innovations to build the world’s most flexible, efficient, and intelligent network,” he added.

Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes-Benz Group’s chairman of the Board of Management, expressed the company’s commitment to deepening its footprint in China, advancing electric and digital transformation along with Chinese partners, and supporting China’s ongoing modernization and the development of new quality productive forces.

“Today, China is not only the largest market for new energy vehicles but also an innovation hub with industry-leading companies and a mature NEV supply chain. We believe the Chinese market will continue to grow and play a leading role in bringing new innovations to our industry,” Kaellenius said.

China has been sending positive signals to advance high-level opening-up in recent years, significantly strengthening the confidence in the market, Kaellenius added.

“The modernization of industrial systems hinges on collaboration and openness,” said Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management at Robert Bosch, emphasizing that the company remains confident in China’s promising business landscape and technological advancements, and stands poised to contribute to the evolution of a modern industrial system.

Bosch, as one of the first foreign companies to invest in China, has witnessed rapid growth alongside local partners and customers. Currently, the German company has a robust presence, boasting 34 manufacturing sites and 26 research and development centers in the Chinese market.

Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said at the forum that to further propel the deeper integration of digital technologies with the real economy and unleash the value of data resources, the country will step up efforts to improve the basic system for data elements, expand the industrial application scenarios of data and accelerate the construction of digital infrastructure such as computing networks.

Liu also stressed the need to promote and standardize cross-border data flow, work with major economies worldwide to establish a cooperation mechanism concerning cross-border data flow, as well as participate in the formulation of global digital rules to expand high-level opening-up in the data domain.

Denis Depoux, global managing director of consultancy Roland Berger, said foreign enterprises have been and will hopefully remain key contributors to China’s industrial modernization drive, particularly in areas like automation and digitalization of industrial and supply chains, where multinationals have strong positions globally, including in China.

Li Dongsheng, founder and chairman of Chinese consumer electronics maker TCL Technology Group, called for strengthening exchanges and cooperation with foreign counterparts to bolster the digitalization of China’s manufacturing sector, exploring mutually beneficial and orderly international rules related to the digital economy, and expanding cooperation in the intellectual property rights of digital transformation.

Earlier, during meetings with MNC chiefs — including Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook, Kaellenius of Mercedes-Benz, and HP Inc CEO and President Enrique Lores — in Beijing on March 21 and 22, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said that China is committed to fostering high-quality development through high-standard openness and ensuring quality service support for foreign businesses.

Zhong Nan contributed to the story.

Contact the writers at wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn