Global firms express optimism in Chinese economy at high-profile forum

Confidence in the Chinese economy resonated throughout the China Development Forum 2025 as China vowed to keep opening its market and inject more stimulus to shore up its economy.

This gathering of global politicians and business leaders, hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council, serves not only as a barometer of China's economic policies but also as a vantage point for observing the trajectory of globalization.

The forum's lineup, including around 720 people from around the world, highlighted the attractiveness of the Chinese economy even as unilateralism and isolationism are on the rise worldwide. Despite trade frictions between China and the U.S., American companies dominated attendance with 27 executives, including those from Apple, Pfizer, and FedEx, underscoring the importance they attach to the Chinese market.

Meanwhile, a total of 28 European corporations participated in the forum, including BMW, HSBC, Bosch and Nestle. This year also marks a new high for first-time participants, with 17 enterprises—such as IKEA, BofA Merrill Lynch, Amberg Resource Group, and Tapestry Group—officially joining. This represents ​20 percent of all participating companies, the highest proportion in the event's history.

The attendees demonstrated comprehensive industry representation, with strong participation from key sectors including financial services, healthcare, energy, and mining. Notably, global leaders in consumer goods such as Danone, Nestle, Estee Lauder, and Tapestry Group also took part.

At the event's opening ceremony, which was held on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledged to advance opening up and cooperation. He said China will continue to welcome enterprises from around the world with open arms, further expand market access, actively address the concerns of businesses, and facilitate the deeper integration of foreign-funded enterprises into the Chinese market.

The increasing global economic fragmentation, coupled with rising instability and uncertainty in today's world, underscores the growing need for countries to open their markets and for enterprises to share resources in order to address challenges and pursue common prosperity, Li said.

Many attendees echoed Li's remarks, with multiple CEOs from multinational companies noting China's important role in driving global economic growth. They said participating in the event is an opportunity for them to conduct research in China, with future plans to increase R&D investment in the country and seek more new growth points, according to China Media Group.

"Twenty-five percent of what we sell globally is manufactured in China. We are very happy we have a long-term relationship with 300+ suppliers and partners here in China," Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO of Inter IKEA Group, told CMG.

Expressing confidence in China, he said, "we have been in China for 60 years, and we are planning to be here for another 60 years."

The China Development Forum 2025 will be held on March 23 and 24. This year's theme is "Unleashing Development Momentum for Stable Growth of Global Economy."