Swire Coca-Cola launches a beverage plant in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, with a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($270 million) on September 20, 2023. Photo: courtesy of Swire Coca-Cola

China is witnessing a whirlwind of attracting overseas investment, with two big deals with total investment of more than $400 million seen in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province in one day, highlighting the fact that China is still and will remain a magnet for overseas investment.

Companies said that they are very optimistic about the potential of the Chinese market and the "Chinese market has always been friendly to us," a strong contrast with smearing reporting that foreign companies are shifting investment out of China as confidence plunges.

On Wednesday, Swire Coca-Cola launched a beverage plant in Suzhou with a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($270 million), the largest investment by the company in the Chinese mainland to date. 

Covering 116,000 square meters, the plant is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2025, with 13 production lines planned.

Swire Coca-Cola launches a beverage plant in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, with a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($270 million) on September 20, 2023. Photo: courtesy of Swire Coca-Cola

Karen So, managing director of Swire Coca-Cola, said that the company expects to have total investment of more than 12 billion yuan in the coming 10 years.

"We are optimistic about the unlimited potential of the Chinese market and look forward to sharing the new opportunities and potential of high-level opening-up. We also hope to grow together with the Chinese market," So said. 

Also on Wednesday, Adidas launched an autonomous delivery center in Suzhou. With an investment of 1 billion yuan, it is the company's largest investment in China in the past five years. 

The opening of the center marked Adidas' progress in digitalization, intelligentization and sustainable supply chains, and will be an example for its global supply network, the company said. 

In an interview with the Global Times on Sunday, Bjoern Gulden, CEO of Adidas, said that Adidas is full of confidence in the future development of the consumer market.

From a global perspective, China is not only a market, but also a manufacturing and supply base for global products. A large number of Adidas shoes and clothing products are made by Chinese suppliers. "I am very happy that Adidas will always be in China," he said.

Besides, global beverage chain Starbucks opened a new coffee innovation park in Jiangsu's Kunshan on Tuesday.

The park, with an investment of about $220 million, is Starbucks' largest manufacturing and distribution investment outside the US, the company said.

Foreign enterprises' expansion moves in China are just the opposite of foreign media reports that claim a withdrawal of foreign investment, smearing China's future economic development, Huo Jianguo, a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Foreign enterprises' business strategies in China are made after feasible evaluation and full discussion, and those decisions could not be made in one night. Although there has been some decline in FDI, it doesn't give a full picture," Huo said. 

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China in the first eight months reached 847.17 billion yuan, down 5.1 percent year-on-year, data from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) showed.

The data was exaggerated and gave a grim picture, saying that foreign companies and investors have grown wary of rising risks in China, reported cnn.com on Tuesday.

The MOFCOM has said fluctuations in FDI are a normal part of market behavior, and the sluggish global economic recovery and a high base effect were behind the drop.

Actualized FDI in manufacturing totaled 239.95 billion yuan, an annual increase of 6.8 percent, and FDI in the high-tech industry surged 19.7 percent. 

The MOFCOM said it will continue to ease market access, further optimize the business environment and further increase the volume and quality of FDI.

Regarding China's investment environment, Gulden said that "Adidas' investment in China has always been supported and welcomed by the Chinese government. I believe that the Chinese market has always been friendly to us." 

Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Starbucks Coffee Co, also said that China is an international market with abundant opportunities, and China is also its overseas market with the largest scale and fastest growth. 

"As one of the largest consumer markets in the world, China presents tremendous opportunities for Starbucks," Narasimhan said.

In the guidelines outlined by the State Council in mid-August, 24 specific measures in six aspects were put forward, which include guaranteeing national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises, increasing financial and tax support, and fostering a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized.

Huo believed that the stability of the domestic economy and secured opening-up policies amid the regular consumption peak of the year may attract more foreign investment to the Chinese market.

In a report released by the Development Research Center of the State Council during the just closed 23rd China International Fair for Investment and Trade, China has maintained its position as the world's second-largest recipient of foreign investment since 2017 and remains one of the most attractive investment destinations globally.