The skyline of Lujiazui in Shanghai Photo: CFP

Foreign companies in China said that remarks that China will accelerate efforts to attract foreign investment, made in the Government Work Report at the ongoing two sessions, have strengthened their confidence in China.

They said they see broader opportunities in the big market of China. They will further develop the Chinese market in the directions of "innovation" and "localization," several foreign companies told the Global Times.

The Government Work Report, delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday, said that China is set to accelerate efforts to attract and utilize more foreign investment. 

"We should expand market access and continue to open up the modern services sector. We should ensure national treatment for foreign-funded companies," Li said. 

"With a vast and open market, China is sure to provide even greater business opportunities for foreign companies in China," Li said. 

Such remarks inject new impetus into the sustainable development of foreign-funded enterprises including Honeywell in China, Yu Feng, president of Honeywell China, told the Global Times on Monday. 

"Thanks to China's comprehensive industrial system, vast market, increasingly optimized business environment, the long-term sound fundamentals of the country's economy, along with other wide-ranging advantages, we have confidence both in China's high-quality development and in Honeywell's business in China," Yu said.

This shows China's firm pace of opening-up, and it will help create a better business environment for foreign-funded enterprises and enhance the confidence of major global enterprises in the Chinese market, Shane YS Hwang, president of LG Chem China Investment Co, told the Global Times.

"In the past two years, Boston Scientific has maintained a double-digit growth trend in China, and the big Chinese market has become the leader of our business growth in emerging markets, and this is not only due to China's strong market resilience and innovation vitality, but also China's high level of opening-up and continuous optimization of the business environment," June Chang, president of Boston Scientific in China told the Global Times on Monday. 

"We have seen the unlimited potential of the market, and we look forward to taking advantage of this opportunity for a full speed forward with the food and beverage industry," said Saravoot Yoovidhya, the CEO of Thailand's beverage company TCP Group.

The government work report sent a positive signal, which shows China's firm pace of opening up to the outside world, and companies with cutting-edge technologies will enjoy more advantages as China is actively promoting high-quality economic development," Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times.

Shane YS Hwang from LG Chem said that key words mentioned in the government work report such as promoting the green transformation of the development model are also the business areas that LG Chem is focusing on.

Foreign companies also said they will continue to beef up investment in the Chinese market and better serve the market to further explore localization.
 
Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 6.3 percent year-on-year to 1.23 trillion yuan in 2022, the Ministry of Commerce said in January, indicating the country remains a magnet for foreign investment despite the pandemic.