Even though the world is going through its change, IKEA remains committed to the Chinese market, the vice president of IKEA China, Francois Brenti, told CGTN.

China's Ministry of Commerce said it recently did a survey that found more than 99 percent of foreign-funded firms in China intend to continue to invest and operate in the country. Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA is among them.

IKEA entered the China market 22 years ago, but the past year has witnessed probably its greatest transformation ever, as it caters to rapid changes in local consumers' preferences and shopping habits. As vice president of IKEA China, Brenti said the number of the company's membership rose by 4.1 million in the past year.

"We have opened seven stores last year. This is a record for IKEA. And this has never been achieved before, not also in China, but also globally. We've launched our app, that is locally developed. We have also for the first time started to sell on the third-party platform, Tmall," said Brenti.

IKEA has announced its largest investment in China, 10 billion yuan (about 1.45 billion U.S. dollars) in the fiscal year ending in August 2020. That mainly went to the company's digitalization strategy and its offline business expansion. Its online sales in China surged 67 percent during the past year. And this year, it's heading to some new markets like Nanning, Kunming and Fuzhou.

"Even though the world is going through its change, our strategy is extremely valid. Our commitment to the Chinese market remains very strong and we are committed to investing in the market. During the last weeks, the total sales are also back to growth. And we are confident that the market is also developing in such a way," said Brenti.

IKEA is just one of the foreign-invested retailers excited by the prospect of growing business here. Leading Japanese household goods specialty store LOFT, which operates 131 branches in its home country, opened its first store on the Chinese mainland, in Shanghai, last month. Japanese bookstore chain Tsutaya is expected to open a store in Shanghai by the end of 2020. And earlier this year, U.S. coffee giant Starbucks announced a plan to build a coffee innovation park in east China's Suzhou. Tesla announced an expansion of its Shanghai plant. And retail giant Costco began working on its second store in Shanghai.

"After the virus outbreak, China proved to the world that its strong consumption capability still exists, despite the pandemic's great impact worldwide. So it's inevitable that foreign-invested retailers would expand in the market. Of course, they need to better understand the market, and cultivate new abilities, given the rapid development of urban renewal and consumers' shopping habits. Some of these abilities could even help them out with their global strategies. Their development in the Chinese market can lay a solid foundation for them globally," said Zhang Qiang, partner at Roland Berger.

At a symposium on economic and social work in Beijing on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of higher-level opening-up in international cooperation and competition and he reiterated that opening-up remains China's fundamental policy. He added that China will provide a broader market for other countries' businesses.