Photo shows the entrance to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) in Beijing, capital of China. Photo: Xinhua

China has not and will never see large-scale withdrawal of overseas capital, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on foreign companies in China, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

"The current global industry chain wasn't formed in a short span of time and won't be randomly changed by a single person or country," said Gao Feng, the ministry spokesperson.

He also cited data that showed more than 70 percent of China's 8,700 major foreign companies had a production resumption rate exceeding 70 percent as of Tuesday, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous week. 

Gao stressed China's unchanged attraction for foreign companies when asked to comment on recent media reports that the US and Japanese governments had rolled out plans to pay for their companies to move out of China. 

Japan is looking to give about $2.2 billion to Japanese manufacturers to help them relocate their overseas factories, many of which are in China, according to a report by nhk.or.jp on April 7. 

According to Gao, 98 percent of the Japanese companies with facilities in southern China have resumed production, and more than 40 percent have resumed full production. 

"Many Japanese companies have expressed confidence in the Chinese market and willingness to make further investment in China," said Gao. 

A report by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China also showed that 75 percent of the surveyed companies said the coronavirus wouldn't change their plans to invest in China. 

Several foreign companies are pursuing investment in China. US-based supermarket chain Costco, for example, has announced plans to open its second store in the Chinese mainland. 

Starbucks also announced plans to invest $129 million in Kunshan city, East China's Jiangsu Province to set up a coffee and baking factory. 

Gao confirmed that those two projects are progressing smoothly. 

Some overseas companies have also expressed optimism about the Chinese market despite the impact of the coronavirus. UK pharmaceutical multinational AstraZeneca said in a note it sent to the Global Times that it plans to bring more innovative medicine to China and enhance research and development in the country. 

"We want to grasp the wonderful opportunity of China's medical market growth and bring more of our company's global research, operating and commercial resources to China," the company noted.