Global Times: Foreign enterprises look to China's economic prospects in supply chains, green energy

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BEIJING, Oct. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior Chinese officials have made renewed calls to expand the country's high-level opening-up and attract more foreign investment during the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum (FSF) 2024 held in Beijing recently, underscoring the country's firm commitment to opening up its vast market to global companies.

Foreign enterprises engaging in a wide range of sectors including finance, logistics and retail are optimistic about China's economic growth prospects, looking to reap more profits in the world's second-largest economy amid China's ramped-up efforts to attract foreign investment and promote high-quality development.

Opening-up is a hallmark of Chinese modernization and an important force driving the reform and development of China's financial industry, Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), said in a speech delivered to the opening ceremony of the FSF on October 18.

"China has been a popular destination for global investment and its doors will continue to open wider," Li said.

With higher standards, greater strength and more forceful measures, China strives to build a market-oriented, rule-of-law-based and internationalized business environment, and continuously promote high-level opening-up of the financial sector, Li said.

Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said at the same forum that the CSRC will stick to broad institutional opening-up, deepening the connectivity between domestic and overseas markets, expanding overseas listing of Chinese enterprises, and at the same time encouraging more foreign companies to explore China's huge market.

Expanding business footprint

These officials' remarks are drawing positive feedbacks from foreign enterprises that eye expanding their business footprints in China.

"There are multiple opportunities for us in China," Pierre Martelly, chief insurance officer of Generali International Asia, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the FSF on October 19.

Martelly said the company is engaged in businesses including life insurance, savings, pensions, property and casualty insurance, and asset management in China.

"Today, we are discussing green insurance and green development opportunities [at this forum]. We have a lot of expertise from Europe, but the biggest investments into EV, solar and wind power are actually happening in China. So by combining our insurance expertise and all the assets that are being developed in China, we can do great business together," Martelly said.

In January, Generali announced it would pay around $108 million to acquire a 51-percent share in Generali China Insurance Co Ltd, which represents "a long-term strategic investment to develop a fully owned and controlled general insurance business in China," the company noted.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China's GDP grew by 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2024, reaching 94.97 trillion yuan ($13.4 trillion). This growth indicates that China's economy continues to show positive and resilient growth amid a barrage of internal and external challenges, government officials and economists said.

"China is the second-largest economy in the world, and China is set to continue to grow. No doubt about it," Abdulla Alhashmi, chief operating officer of Parks & Zones of DP World GCC, told the Global Times, noting that he believes in the long-term outlook of the Chinese economy and its resilience.

"We would like to be further entrenched in the supply chain of the factories of China," Alhashmi said. "The opportunities that we see in the Chinese market are endless. China is a very large economic market. We believe there is a huge potential for us to tap into its logistics sector," he said.

DP World has been investing aggressively over the past 10 years in China, particularly in ports and warehousing facilities.

Commitment to opening-up

China's ramped-up efforts at wider opening-up is part of a comprehensive set of reforms outlined in a key document released after the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee in July.

The policymakers have pledged to foster a first-class business environment, protect the legitimate rights and interests of all foreign investors, by further opening the country's commodities, services, capital and labor market to the world, and expand a globally intertwined network of high-standard free trade, according to the document.

To inspire more foreign direct investment in the country, the authorities have removed all restrictions on manufacturing sector access as part of China's efforts to accelerate the opening-up drive.

At the beginning of 2024, the State Council, the cabinet, promulgated a 24-point action plan, outlining a wide range of measures to expand market access in key Chinese industries, ensure equal participation of foreign companies in government bidding, and facilitate the exchange of international business personnel.

On October 17, the NFRA approved BNP Paribas and Volkswagen Financial Services to jointly set up a property insurance company in Beijing. Prudential Financial has also received approval to establish an insurance asset management firm in Beijing, marking one of the latest steps in the country's financial sector opening-up.

Reform and opening-up have proved to be the two most important factors fueling the rapid development of Chinese economy and driving the integration of China's economy with the world. Meanwhile, China is providing the world with competitive and cost-effective high-quality goods and services as the nation pursues new quality productive forces, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

As China continues to improve the business environment and uphold the flag of globalization and common prosperity, foreign investment will continue to flow into the Chinese market, Wang noted.

SOURCE Global Times