Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT

 Recently, some foreign firms in China have expressed concerns over development prospects due to previous disruptions in logistics and supply chains, a growing trend of anti-globalization, and Western politicians' calls for industrial chains to return home or relocate from China.

Though the scale, regulations and trends of global capital flows will be affected as the pandemic continues to rip through the world, it will be a global issue rather than a unique problem in China. However, some US politicians have been calling for American firms to remove themselves from China with measures resulting from investment protectionism. Such calls go against basic market economy principles and rules of social productivity, and put US capital-funded firms in a dilemma.

The deployment of global industrial chains is still largely determined by labor source costs, tariff levels, non-tariff barriers and industrial facilitations. Multinationals invest in different countries and regions to pursue the optimal allocation of resources and maximize profits.

China has become the global manufacturing center and will not be altered by the will of certain individuals. Western industrialized countries underwent a process of industrial upgrading in the 1970s through multinationals' outbound investments, during which time newly industrialized Asian countries took the opportunity to develop into global manufacturing hubs. China became a major power through efficiency and competitiveness, and has not changed in essentials. 

China has cultivated the world's largest-scale manufacturing industry, with a sound industrial system providing vital support to China's global competitiveness. It cannot be surpassed in the short term.

Per data from the United Nations, China's manufacturing industry accounts for more than 25 percent of the world's total manufacturing output. Among 500 major industrial products globally, China ranks first for over 220 in terms of output. China's industrial chains and foreign firms have formed a mutually beneficial relationship.

Moreover, China possesses a huge, growing domestic market with a scale currently similar to that of the US. The Chinese market's continually upgrading structure and demand offer rosy prospects for multinationals with advantages in the medical, financial, and educational services sectors. The country's huge market has brought in large profits for multinationals in recent years.

China has put increased efforts into the improvement of its business and investment environments. It has created a favorable environment by reducing fees and taxes, implementing a new Foreign Investment Law, and promoting a consumption upgrade for market-oriented foreign investments. It is also actively forming a friendly international environment by promoting the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and enhancing trade partnerships with Japan, South Korea and the EU, so as to offer more development space for foreign firms.

China has brought COVID-19 largely under control earlier than other countries. That - together with the continued promotion of its reform and opening-up and a constantly improving business environment for foreign investment - should induce foreign firms to seize the development opportunities in China and confidently invest and operate in the country.

The author is a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, and former president of the research institute of China's Ministry of Commerce. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn