A foreigner submits a health declaration at an airport in Shanghai on Monday. Shanghai airport authorities enhanced management at Pudong and Hongqiao airports as the COVID-19 epidemic worsens globally. Photo: cnsphoto

China has never eased its efforts to open up despite economic downward pressure, China-US trade tensions and the COVID-19 epidemic, and sectors concerning public health and information and telecommunications will provide new opportunities for American investors this year, experts said on Tuesday.

Several US firms that Global Times talked to said they have confidence in long-term investments in China while endeavoring to tackle the fallout of the virus.

The comments came after the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) said on Tuesday that the proportion of US companies describing their financial performance as "profitable" in the Chinese market dropped from 73 percent in 2017 to 61 percent in 2019 - the lowest percentage to report profitability in almost two decades. 

"The fight against COVID-19, ongoing bilateral negotiations and a slowing Chinese economy make for challenging business conditions," said AmCham China Chairman Greg Gilligan. 

"Foreign businesses will have to be versatile and resilient, and keep long-term plans in mind. But the market panic of COVID-19 will subside, and 2020 will be a critical year for businesses and policy makers with significant impact on the trajectory of US-China relations," Gilligan noted.

But the survey said that China remains a leading long-term investment destination for most US companies.

As US companies that pursue expansion in China are offered equal treatment with domestic ones, they are expected to build up confidence toward the market and make joint efforts to get through the hard time, since the growth potential and profit margins in the Chinese market are relatively sound compared with the rest of the world, said Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Changing Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China.

Dong told the Global Times on Tuesday that "China has strengthened its efforts to open up even given the epidemic outbreak and sectors related to public health and safety, such as medical tests, healthcare services and food safety, will provide new opportunities for US capital in the near future."

"Despite some challenges, the improved domestic business environment has boosted our confidence in making long-term investment in China," an employee of a US services company who asked to remain anonymous told the Global Times.

"We are trying to get prepared to seize the opportunity of pent-up demand in China due to the impact of the coronavirus, and the great market growth potential will accelerate our expansion after the epidemic is controlled," the employee said.

A combination of concrete actions taken in 2019 coupled with reforms in the financial services sector have boosted US firms' confidence in the Chinese government's commitment to further open its market to foreign investment, experts said. 

The US crackdown on Huawei also offered some experience for opening up the information and telecommunications sectors - technical interfaces, software equipment and information confidentiality related to information security are expected to be managed in a mutually agreed manner by Chinese and US companies, according to Dong.


Newspaper headline: US firms to find new openings in China’s health sector: experts