Foreign firms ramp up investment in China as market confidence stays steady

International companies have been increasing their investments and expanding production in China, indicating strong confidence in the Chinese market amid the country's efforts to promote opening up. German chemical giant BASF has recently announced an investment of around 500 million yuan (about 68 million U.S. dollars) to expand its factory in Shanghai. The expansion is aimed at meeting the demand for automotive shock absorbers in China's new energy vehicle market.

The manufacturing facility, situated in the city's famously business-friendly district of Pudong, is expected to be completed and start production by 2027, increasing the company's total capacity by nearly 70 percent. "China's green transition and sustainable development offer many opportunities for BASF. Our decision to continue investing in our factory in Pudong, Shanghai, demonstrates our continued confidence in China's economic growth, the automotive industry, and the business environment in Pudong," said Xu Yibin, vice president of BASF and general manager of the factory in Pudong.

Recently, Panasonic Energy (Wuxi) has officially begun mass production and shipping of its newly invested large-diameter battery project. These batteries are primarily intended for use in electric bicycles, construction machinery, medical equipment, and energy storage systems.

Tetsuro Homma, Executive Vice President of Panasonic Holdings Corporation, said that in the past six years, the company has built and invested in 19 new facilities in China. They are confident in the resilience of the Chinese economy and the new energy battery market.

Recently, the first domestic promotion event of the 8th China International Import Expo was held in Shanghai, with about 30 foreign companies in attendance and many signing agreements on-site.

The expo stands as a telling example of China's steadfast opening up and an unmissable opportunity for foreign enterprises seeking to tap into the Chinese market.

Currently, the 8th China International Import Expo has nearly 800 companies from over 70 countries signed up, covering an exhibition area of nearly 250,000 square meters.

Among the first group of exhibitors, more than 100 have participated in all eight sessions.

U.S. essential oils company doTERRA has expanded its exhibition area from just nine square meters at the first session of the expo to 300 square meters this year.

"We are very confident in the future here in China, this year we have really strong growth compared to last year and that gives us great confidence and also our strategy of introducing more China-sourced oils here that have been well received. We're going to be investing more in our research and development center, increasing our testing here. That will speed our development, and we're going to be investing more in China because we have a lot of confidence in the future of this market," said Owen Messick, president of doTERRA China.

China continues to send positive signals to the international market about its commitment to optimizing the business environment and supporting the development of foreign enterprises.

This year, China released the "2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment," which includes 20 practical measures. These measures aim to expand pilot programs in sectors like telecommunications, healthcare, and education, fully lift restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing, and increase support for the reinvestment of foreign companies in China.

Additionally, China is working to revise its "Negative List for Market Access" and the "Catalog of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment," ensuring that foreign companies can both enter and operate in open sectors.

"Recently, several surveys by foreign chambers of commerce in China revealed that most member companies intend to maintain or increase their investments in China. This demonstrates that China has been, is, and will continue to be an ideal, safe, and promising investment destination for foreign investors," said Liu Zhengfu, director of the development research department at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Foreign firms ramp up investment in China as market confidence stays steady

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will work with relevant departments and local authorities to take concrete steps to promote the implementation of the newly passed private sector promotion law, a landmark legislation concerning a vast economic force in the country, said an NDRC official.

China's top legislative body -the National People's Congress - passed the private sector promotion law on Wednesday, establishing a legal backing for the steady and healthy growth of the key sector, including more than 57 million private firms and over 100 million self-employed individuals.

This landmark law is China's first fundamental legislation dedicated to the private sector. It will bolster confidence among the vast community by improving the business environment, fostering innovation, and ensuring fair competition, according to NDRC, the country's top economic planner.

"The private sector promotion law has actively responded to the key concerns in the development of the private sector. Efforts are made to establish and improve relevant systems and enhance the enforceability of the systems, from ensuring fair competition, improving investment and financing environment, supporting technology innovation, focusing on regulated operation, optimizing services and guarantees, and improving rights and interest protection, to strengthening legal accountability, so as to ensure that all forms of ownership can equally utilize production factors by the law, participate in market competition fairly, receive equal legal protection, further unleash their complementary advantages, and pursue common development," said Liu Min, deputy director of Private Sector Development Bureau under NDRC.

Liu added NDRC will continue to work together with relevant departments and local authorities to improve supporting systems and mechanisms and take concrete steps to promote the implementation of the private sector promotion law.

"We will make continuous and increasing efforts to remove barriers to market access and to fair competition, to address the issue of overdue payments to private enterprises, to protect the lawful rights and interests of private businesses and entrepreneurs by the law, to implement various relief policies, to help private enterprises shoulder their responsibilities of the era, so as to help translate legal systems into concrete actions and tangible outcomes that promote the high-quality development of the private sector," said Liu.

Concrete steps to take for firmly implementing China's landmark private sector promotion law: official