(Photo: Department of Commerce in Guangdong)

On March 28, the launching ceremony of the "Invest in China Year" series of investment promotion activities was held in Guangzhou, initiating a year-long foreign investment attraction campaign by China MOFCOM for the first time.

The right time for foreign businesses to reinvest in China

According to the 2023 Government Work Report revealed this month, China has set plans to promote high-quality development, speed up the implementation of innovation-driven strategy, coordinate urban-rural development, and encourage consumption expansion and industrial upgrading, which will provide more space for foreign companies in China.

At the ceremony, He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the State Council, indicated that China would intensify efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment. As the economy stabilizes and paces, a wide range of supportive policies is being implemented. Now is the right time for foreign businesses to invest more in China.

Guangdong, the province with the largest GDP in China for 34 consecutive years, will be the first to promote its business environment during a special event the next day. Huang Kunming, Secretary of CPC Guangdong Committee, indicated that in the past decades, Guangdong has insisted on opening up and attracting enormous numbers of foreign investors and companies. Huang welcomed foreign investors and companies to dock with the province's high-quality development and achieve a win-win situation in the future.

Foreign investment confident and optimistic about China

More than 100 multinational executives and representatives from foreign chambers of commerce and associations attended the ceremony, expressing their confidence in the Chinese market and willingness to continue to invest in China.

Dr. Markus Kamieth, a Board of Executive Directors member in BASF SE, delivered a speech at the ceremony, indicating that China is home to many rapidly developing industries and many BASF customers. In recent years, BASF has continued to be optimistic about the Chinese market and has continuously increased its investment in China.

Kamieth said that BASF Zhanjiang Verbund Site had been its utmost project in China, which is also BASF's third largest Verbund Site globally with the most significant investment. By 2030, the total investment will reach 10 billion EUR.

Nathan Stoner, Vice president & Chairman of Cummins China, told GDToday that in many of his industries, China represents 40 to 50 percent of the global volume, both domestic and indirect export outside. Therefore, Cummins has solid partnerships with many Chinese players, including Dong Feng, Foton, and Sinopec.

"Our customers' confidence is in China's internal development, continued growth, adoption of new zero-carbon or low-carbon technologies, and expansion from China overseas. And we will look to go along with our customers and partners in the country," Stoner added.

Zhu Hailuan, the Vice President of Sanofi China, said that in the past two years, thanks to the Hong Kong and Macao Medicine and Equipment Connect policy, Sanofi's latest innovative drugs can enter the Chinese mainland for the first time, which is also very attractive to the innovation-driven industry force. Zhu revealed that his company plans to introduce 25 innovative drugs and indications to the Chinese mainland from 2020 to 2025.