Multiple representatives of leading international companies and trade associations expressed strong confidence in China's market prospects after attending a meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday.
Xi emphasized in the meeting that China has been and will remain an ideal, secure, and promising destination for foreign investments.
China is committed to the fundamental national policy of opening up to the outside world, and is advancing high-standard opening up and taking solid steps to expand institutional opening up, such as that of rules, regulations, management, and standards, Xi said.
More than 40 chairpersons and CEOs of foreign-funded enterprises, along with representatives of business associations, attended the meeting.
Speaking in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Georges Elhedery, CEO of HSBC, said that "I was honored to be at today's conference. We've been founded in China for 160 years. The fact [is] that China is a priority market for us, that we continue investing in China and that we see this as a great opportunity."
"I think what the president did was he made a very compelling case for foreign companies to continue to invest. He said, 'investing in China is investing for the future,' and I think that's the way most companies are seeing China right now. And I thought President Xi helped make it clear that China is also looking for foreign companies to invest here and to grow into the long term," said Sean Stein, president of U.S.-China Business Council.
"We have heard the commitment today from the leadership, from President Xi himself, in terms of what's needed and what can be done to accelerate the investment of foreign direct [investment]. It is one of the biggest economies in the the world and the level of growth is very admirable," said Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco.
"China has the longest way of thinking of the future. It gives certainty to all of us foreign businesses, and also [to] people around the globe," said Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, chairperson of the Louis-Dreyfus Group.
Global executives express strong confidence in China's market
Global executives express strong confidence in China's market
Racing against time to locate survivors, Chinese rescuers by far have successfully saved six people across quake-ravaged Myanmar.
The critical 72-hour window for rescue efforts has passed since a deadly 7.9-magnitude earthquake wreaked mass devastation in Myanmar on Friday.
In the hard-hit city of Mandalay, the China Search and Rescue Team successfully pulled a woman from the rubble of the Great Wall Hotel early Monday after over five hours of intense efforts.
She had been trapped for nearly 60 hours and was found alive with vital signs. This was the first survivor rescued by the team since its arrival late Sunday.
The team also carried out rescue mission at Mandalay's Sky Villa Condominium, one of the most severely damaged buildings in the city.
At 05:37 and 06:20 local time on Monday, after working through the night, the China Search and Rescue Team and the Rescue Team of Ram Union freed a five-year-old child and a pregnant woman from the debris at the townhouse rescue site, according to the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.
Both survivors, including the child who had been trapped for over 60 hours, were in stable condition, and were sent to the hospital for treatment.
In the capital Nay Pyi Taw, one of the hardest-hit areas, a 37-member rescue and medical team from China's Yunnan Province, working with local rescuers, saved an elderly man trapped for nearly 40 hours under the rubble of Ottara Thiri Private Hospital after an overnight emergency operation.
The medical team, which arrived on Saturday evening, became the first international rescue teams to reach the quake zone. It brought essential equipment, including full-function life detectors, earthquake early warning systems, portable satellite phones and drones.
Also on Sunday, members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team, a Chinese civil relief squad from Hunan Province, successfully pulled a survivor from the rubble of the Buddhist Hall in Mandalay.
Meanwhile, the first batch of disaster-relief supplies from the Chinese government arrived in Myanmar on Monday. The supplies, including 1,200 tents, 8,000 blankets and more than 40,000 first aid kits, was part of the 100-million-yuan (13.9-million-U.S. dollars) emergency humanitarian aid provided by China to support earthquake relief efforts.
The death toll from the earthquake rose to 2,056, with approximately 3,900 people injured and nearly 270 reported missing, according to data released by Myanmar's State Administration Council Information Team on Monday.
Chinese rescuers save 6 lives so far in quake-hit Myanmar
Chinese rescuers save 6 lives so far in quake-hit Myanmar
