(Economic Observer) Why do foreign companies turn to China for business opportunities?

　　China News Agency, Beijing, November 22 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) Although the economic recovery has slowed down, China still maintains a strong appeal to global investors.

　　Official data released recently show that in the first 10 months of this year, China's actual use of foreign capital reached 1,089.86 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of 14.4% on a comparable basis.

Among them, South Korea's investment in China has more than doubled compared with the same period last year, and Germany's investment in China has also increased by 95.8%.

　　In 2021, China's actual use of foreign capital will be 1,149.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth rate of 14.9%.

Judging from the current trend, it will be a high probability event that China's actual use of foreign capital will maintain double-digit growth this year, and the scale will hit a record high.

At a time when the overall global economy is in a downturn, it is remarkable that China can absorb foreign capital in such a way.

　　The secret to China's "magnetism" for investors boils down to the fact that the market is large and dynamic, and profitable for business.

　　China has a population of more than 1.4 billion and a per capita GDP of over US$10,000, which has created a market with unlimited potential.

In the words of Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, China is in a period of upgrading and accelerating consumption structure. With the expansion of people's needs for a better life, the potential for consumption development is huge.

　　Many foreign companies have taken a fancy to this.

Executives of eight well-known German companies including BASF Group and Siemens AG recently jointly wrote an article saying that China has become "the most dynamic of all markets" and is also the second largest consumer market in the world.

The huge potential of the Chinese market gives German companies the opportunity to expand faster and achieve greater success in other markets. "Exiting China will make us lose opportunities."

　　According to the "Blue Book of Japanese Economy: Research Report on the Japanese Economy and Sino-Japanese Economic and Trade Relations (2022)" jointly published by the Japanese Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Sciences Literature Publishing House, Japanese-funded enterprises in China are willing to expand their business scale in China. The reason is that carrying out business activities in China can ensure stable operating income.

　　China's active efforts to improve the business environment are also conducive to attracting investors.

In recent years, from continuously reducing the negative list of foreign investment access, to establishing special work classes, strengthening service guarantee measures for key foreign-funded projects, and then issuing new regulations to facilitate the exchange of international business personnel and ensuring the smooth transportation of foreign companies' production materials and products, China has been continuously Respond to the demands of foreign companies in a targeted manner and provide more adequate protection for the legitimate rights and interests of foreign companies.

　　According to a recent survey conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, in the third quarter of this year, foreign companies’ satisfaction evaluations on market access, promotion of market competition, acquisition of business premises and access to financial services increased by 1.99, 1.84, 1.52 and 1.43 percentage points respectively compared with the second quarter.

It can be seen from the investment amount, investment structure and participation degree of foreign companies in China that China's business environment is very attractive.

　　Although China's economy is currently facing challenges, China's economic performance is still at the forefront among the world's major economies.

Officials from China's National Development and Reform Commission also said recently that China is about to become the world's largest consumer market.

These will help China continue to maintain its attractiveness to investors in the future.

　　Wei Jianguo, former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China, believed in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that China needs to speed up the construction of an efficient, standardized, fair competition, and fully open national unified market, which will fully stimulate the advantages of a large market size and further strengthen The confidence of foreign companies to operate stably and expand investment in China.

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