Global Times: China remains best supply chain partner for many global firms: trade body

BEIJING, Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- China remains the best supply chain partner for many multinational businesses, with many holding favorable views of China's latest policy measures related to foreign investment and attending major expos in China, deputy head of China's top trade promotion agency said on Monday.

Highlighting many multinationals' solid confidence in the Chinese market, a pair of upcoming major import and supply chain expos in China have attracted a significantly higher number of foreign participants, according to official data. Meanwhile, some global industry leaders such as Intel and Apple have recently moved to or vowed to expand their operations in the Chinese market.

Foreign businesses' unrelenting enthusiasm for the Chinese market is the result of China's strong economic prospects and its continuous opening-up policy, Chinese experts told the Global Times on Monday.

A recent survey of more than 400 major foreign companies conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) showed that 64.9 percent of participants hold favorable views toward the supportive effects of foreign capital-related policies introduced by China's central government, and 66.6 percent hold favorable views toward those issued by local governments, Zhang Shaogang, deputy head of the CCPIT, told a press conference on Monday.

In addition, foreign vendors participating in this year's China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) account for 32 percent of the total number of vendors, surpassing that of last year. Among the foreign vendors, the number of those from the US tops the list, and the numbers of those from Europe and Japan are also significantly higher than last year, according to Zhang.

"This fully demonstrates that foreign companies continue to be optimistic about the Chinese market, and China is still their best supply chain partner in allocating resources globally," Zhang said at the press conference on preparations for the CISCE.

The CISCE, the world's first supply chain-themed exhibition, is scheduled to take place in Beijing from November 26 to 30. As a major platform for promoting China's high-level opening-up and an open world economy, the expo is set to attract guests from more than 100 countries and regions and over 10 international organizations. 

Before the opening of the CISCE, China will kick off the China International Import Expo (CIIE), one of the world's largest import-themed expos, in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, with a record number of global industry leaders set to attend.

This year's CIIE will be attended by 3,496 vendors from 129 countries and regions and the number of Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leading companies participating in the exhibition reached 297, a record number, according to the Ministry of Commerce last week.

"The attractiveness of the CISCE and the CIIE essentially epitomizes China's attractiveness among investors with the country's vast potential for investment and market growth," Huo Jianguo, a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.

Huo noted that China has recently taken a slew of measures to further open up more sectors for foreign businesses and to further optimize the business environment, while the Chinese economy has also maintained overall stable growth. "In short, there are two factors behind foreign businesses' confidence in China: One is they think there is profit to be made in investment in China, and the other is a stable and favorable business environment."

Among the slew of opening-up measures in various sectors, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Wednesday launched a pilot program to expand opening-up in value-added telecom services in four designated areas in Beijing, Shanghai, South China's Hainan Province and Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.

In terms of overall innovation capabilities, research and development (R&D) capabilities, equality of industrial workers, infrastructure, a complete industrial chain and market demand, China is still the best choice, Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50 told the Global Times.  

Looking beyond their participation at the upcoming expos, some multinationals have moved to expand their operations in China. On Monday, US chipmaker Intel announced it was expanding its packaging and testing facility in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the Securities Times reported. The expansion includes setting up a customer solutions center to improve the efficiency of local supply chains.

On Friday, China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with Apple CEO Tim Cook in Beijing, during which Cook said that China's rapid development has helped Apple achieve fast and sustainable growth, pledging to increase investment in supply chain, R&D and other areas.