Container vessels berth at the Port of Yangshan to clear cargo around the clock in Shanghai on January 2, 2022. Photo: VCG

Representatives of foreign chambers of commerce in China and foreign enterprises have commended China's optimized anti-COVID-19 response and border reopening, saying the impact is positive and their businesses are back to normal track.

"Foreign businessmen that we know welcome the new opening policy. There are a lot of companies that really can't wait to invest in China," Loh Wee Keng, chairman of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China (MAYCHAM), told the Global Times on Tuesday at the sidelines of Thematic Briefing on China's COVID-19 Policy held in Beijing.

Thematic Briefing on China's COVID-19 Policy held in Beijing on January 10, 2022. Photo: GT

The policy briefing gathered more than 160 representatives from foreign business chambers and enterprises in China. The briefing was organized by several departments, including the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, National Health Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

"The first group of Malaysian enterprises that will benefit from China's reopening [on Sunday] should be tourism enterprises. They have already deployed some new travel routes to attract Chinese tourists," said Loh, adding that enterprises in education and food sector will also see a growth.

After China's anti-COVID policy shift, the export of Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises to China will increase, Loh noted.

"My friend from the Russia Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that many Russian enterprises and associations have arranged to come to China since Sunday [when China eased COVID-related entry and exit measures], because face-to-face meeting is better than video conference," Novikov Dmitrii, head of Centre of Social-Conservative Policy for China at United Russia, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Jacques De Vos, Executive Director of CED Prometheus, said the development of the policy in China in the past month has been very positive.

"China is ready to take its leading position in the world again in our business. We export equipment from China. The important thing is that things are opening up and for instance, shipping, which was difficult during the past two years or so, has become normal again," De Vos told the Global Times on Tuesday.

He noted that in general, China is coming back and he is happy to see the country take up a role again as the leading economy in the world. "We are very positive about the change and we don't see any negative effect."

"In terms of anti-COVID, what impressed me most is China's ability to control the number of cases in the first year [of outbreak], considering the size of the country," Socrate Lao, COO and Executive Director at Société Générale China, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

After the policy shift, "the premises allowed us to operate in a normal way, especially a lot of activities to do on site", said Lao. "Today we are back to normal business mode."

Passengers pass through the Hekou port, a major land port in Southwest China's Yunnan Province adjacent to Vietnam, on January 8, 2023, the first day of China's downgraded COVID-19 management. Photo: Li Qiaoyi/GT

Kim Jun-Bum, CEO of the Korean Peninsula Technology Co., Ltd, told the Global Times on Tuesday that after the opening in January, there will be more international exchanges or investment. Kim said there will be more personnel exchanges in the second half of this year.

International exchanges between China and other countries will also be intensified after China's anti-COVID policy shift.

Dmitrii said that the Russian political party United Russia, the governing party, is in preparation of a face-to-face dialogue with the CPC.

Loh revealed that Malaysia's minister in charge of international trade is now planning a visit to China, and many large enterprises will travel with the minister. 

"According to what we know, from now on, there will be ministerial-level visits to China every month, involving trade, tourism, education and transport. They all hope to visit China as soon as possible together with business delegations. So, chambers of commerce and investment institutions will be very busy this year," said the MAYCHAM chairman.