Day 3 of the Boao Forum for Asia is underway in south China's Hainan Province, and the opening plenary is atop the schedule. At the forum, President of Merck China Marc Horn spoke to CGTN's Dai Kaiyi. He believes foreign enterprises in China can play a role in cooperation and dialogue when the Chinese and global markets are facing disputes and uncertainties.

DAI KAIYI CGTN Reporter "The Trump Administration's trade policies have rattled the Asia-Pacific and keep stirring global uncertainty. What impact does that have in terms of the sentiment of international businesses here in China?"

MARC HORN Executive Vice President, Merck Group President of Merck China "As a truly global company as Merck, we are really following a diversification approach, so we really have regionalized our supply chain to really be following footprints locally for patients and customers. So, we are really leveraging at the moment the competitive advantages we see in North America, Europe, and China, and Asia Pacific individually. So, we truly believe, you need to be agile. As a global player, we do think we can play also a role in the cooperation and dialogue so that we can all work together."

DAI KAIYI CGTN Reporter "In light of that background, what strategies might we see from foreign businesses in China this year to navigate the challenges?"

MARC HORN Executive Vice President, Merck Group President of Merck China "I think the Two Sessions has clearly shown that there is a strong confidence in the future growth, with reiteration of five percent growth, focusing again on innovation, in particular, space of digitalization, green energy, life science and health care, but also really focusing on consumption and the well-being of a society. And I think all those points in combination with the opening up, so further deepening market access, providing equitable competition. I think you will see that there is a long-term investment growth in China."

DAI KAIYI CGTN Reporter "Growth is a key word for China as the country is aiming for five percent GDP growth target in 2025. What new opportunities does that open up for multinational companies like Merck?"

MARC HORN Executive Vice President, Merck Group President of Merck China "The innovation system here is really unique, when you're looking at very strong government policy support. A lot of new companies emerging, which are scaling very fast, in combination with academia and a very strong customer focus. So, in obvious areas where we just talked about like sustainability, precision medicine, really looking at new materials, thinking about elderly care. So, these are all areas which we become more greener, more digital, more healthier. We do believe as Merck, we can really contribute and then see a long-term perspective here."

DAI KAIYI CGTN Reporter "Asia's aging population is a pressing challenge we're facing. How's Merck planning to step in and address this issue?"

MARC HORN Executive Vice President, Merck Group President of Merck China "A very important question, we currently see that 25% of the Asian population by 2050 will be older than 60 years. In China, by 2035, 400 million people being older than 65. So it's a unique and very pressing challenge for the society ultimately. We, as Merck, really would like to contribute with our expertise in healthcare, life science and electronics. So I do think that's an area which is an opportunity as well and we hope to contribute."