Foreign firms' confidence showcases China's resolve in opening-up

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"A more open China will bring more opportunities for win-win cooperation to the world," said Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who stressed the country's steadfast pursuit of high-level opening-up at the China Development Forum (CDF) on Sunday.

Despite pessimistic voices, the country, for decades, has been committed to fostering a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. While some American politicians have been enthusiastically spreading rumors about China's "deteriorating" business environment, multinational corporations in China are among the most attuned to the determination of the country's opening-up.

It is worth noting that more than 110 international guests including a remarkable number of American business leaders have signed up for the two-day event – a vivid display of global investors' confidence in the Chinese market. Against the backdrop of Washington's attempt to cut China off from advanced chips, major American chip companies such as Micron, AMD and Qualcomm were interestingly in attendance at the China-initiated gathering.

"For American businesses, the commitment to China and the deep engagement with the Chinese market … has remained unchanged over the past two or three years," Joseph Luc Ngai, chairman of Greater China at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company was quoted by The Global Times as saying. "For Apple's supply chain, I think there is no place more important than China," Apple CEO Tim Cook said, before participating in the CDF.

While certain American politicians have been straining every nerve to drive multinational firms away from China, global investors are voting for the Chinese market with "their feet." More than 80 percent of foreign-funded firms in China are satisfied with the country's business environment, according to a survey conducted in 2023 by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Against Western decoupling endeavors, the Chinese government has been dedicated to optimizing its business environment. For instance, the country unveiled its 24-point guidelines – widely seen as the most comprehensive set of proposals released in recent years – to attract foreign investments in August 2023. The negative list of foreign investment access has continued to be reduced. Foreign enterprises are also welcomed to report any difficulties to Chinese authorities.

China's inclusiveness is in sharp contrast to the United States' push for economic decoupling. While corporate executives, foreign scholars and representatives of international organizations have been warmly welcomed during their trips to China, the Biden administration has been stirring up trouble against China – pouring dirty water on Chinese chipmaker SMIC, hyping additional sanctions on Huawei, and expressing so-called "concerns" about Microsoft's operation in China, to name but a few. The comparison demonstrates China's determination in opening-up.

Just as Indermit Gill, chief economist at the World Bank Group, stressed that the 2020s "nears the midpoint of what was intended to be a transformative decade for development," but "without a major course correction, the 2020s will go down as a decade of wasted opportunity." Business tycoons are clear that an open China means vast opportunities, and are willing to seize the opportunity for multi-win results.

Despite pressure from the U.S. government, global investors have the wisdom to make the right choice between cooperation and confrontation. However pessimistic America's so-called economists hype about the Chinese economy and hard American politicians push for decoupling, the Chinese government's determination in opening-up makes the country a sought-after destination for multinational corporations.

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