China welcomes U.S. companies to actively participate in its market and will strive to create a fair and just environment, the industry ministry said on Monday, citing a meeting it held with firms such as Qualcomm Inc and General Motors.

Xiao Yaqing, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, made the comments during a video meeting held with a delegation sent by the U.S.-China Business Council, the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

Executives from the headquarters of companies like General Motors and Qualcomm attended the meeting, alongside the heads of the U.S.-China Business Council, the statement said, adding that Xiao had also commented on how there were good market prospects in areas like 5G technology and new energy vehicles.

Last month, the Chinese Commerce Ministry welcomed U.S. companies to step up investment in China and share its development dividends, saying that China has been earnestly implementing the first phase of the China-U.S. economic and trade agreement and has worked hard to create a sound environment for practical cooperation between the enterprises of the two countries.

Around 70 percent of the more than 200 firms surveyed that own or outsource production in China said they did not intend to shift manufacturing to other countries, according to an annual business sentiment survey conducted before by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and consultancy PwC China.

(With input from Reuters)