China offers foreign firms big prospects

Vice-Premier He Lifeng said on Tuesday that the sustained and healthy development of the Chinese economy and the advantages of its super-large market offer broad prospects to foreign enterprises investing in the nation.

He made the remarks at the launch ceremony of the Invest in China Year series of investment promotion events in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

He cited China's upgraded domestic consumption, industrial transformation, innovation-driven development and coordinated urban-rural regional development as factors bringing opportunities to foreign enterprises.

With the advancement of Chinese-style modernization, the country's more than 1.4 billion people will enter a modernized society and, in the coming 15 years, China's middle-income group is expected to expand from 500 million to over 800 million, he said.

China will accelerate its opening-up in fields such as regulations and management standards in line with the highest international standards, he added.

It will issue more policies to facilitate trade and investment, and build a market-oriented, rules-based and international business environment in a sustained manner.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the launch of reform and opening-up in China. Since then, foreign investment had reached an accumulative total of 19.7 trillion yuan ($2.86 trillion) by the end of last year.

Foreign investment has played a positive role in China's economic development and helped facilitate the deep integration of the Chinese economy with the global economy.

Foreign enterprises have shared opportunities in the Chinese market and realized their greater development, He said.

The investment promotion events, organized by the Ministry of Commerce, will also take place in other parts of China and a number of foreign countries.

The purpose of holding the events is to strengthen communication with foreign investors and to create better conditions for investment by foreign enterprises, he said.

Noel Quinn, group chief executive of international banking group HSBC, hailed He's remarks as a message of "strong confidence" in China's economic growth prospects and a willingness to continue to strengthen cooperation with the international business community.

Quinn also expressed the desire of the international business community to invest in China and to continue to develop its business models for both consumption within China and exports from the country to the rest of the world.

"I would also say there's a strong message of engagement, shared collaboration, working together to solve the economic challenges of today, but also to take advantage of the economic opportunities of tomorrow and in the future," Quinn said.

"The Chinese economy is recovering really well, I think ahead of people's expectations. We want to continue to expand our business and continue to invest," he added.

Li Xingjun, chairman of ExxonMobil (Huizhou) Chemical Co, said the company's development goals are compatible with China's development plans, and it aims to have a more active role in the nation's manufacturing sector. It also hopes to help China in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, he said.