Over 70 percent of foreign-funded companies in China expressed optimism regarding market prospects in the next five years, up 3.8 percentage points from the previous survey, said a national foreign trade and investment promotion agency on Sunday.
Zhao Ping, spokeswoman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), told a press conference held in Beijing that a survey was carried out by the CCPIT in the first quarter of 2024 among over 600 businesses, revealing that generally, the respondents spoke highly of China's business environment.
Over 90 percent of enterprises surveyed were satisfied or more than satisfied with the services in terms of the nine indicators, including seeking for business location and market access, the survey showed.
"Judging from the market confidence, the foreign-funded enterprises surveyed are full of confidence in the Chinese market. More than 70 percent of the foreign-funded enterprises surveyed are optimistic about the development prospects of the Chinese market in the next five years, an increase of approximately 3.8 percentage points month-on-month," said Zhao. Zhao said that regarding their operations in China, these foreign-funded enterprises hold optimistic forecast for operations in China.
More than half of them reported that they expect the profit rate of investment in China to expand in the next five years, said Zhao.
The proportion of surveyed foreign-funded enterprises that plan to increase capital in China this year increased by 2.1 percentage points month-on-month, said Zhao.
Foreign-invested companies optimistic about China's market prospect: survey
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Cho Tae-yul, foreign minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK), in Beijing on Monday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China and the ROK are close neighbors and should maintain regular exchanges.
Recently, China-ROK relations have been facing difficulties and challenges, which is not in the common interests of both sides, nor is it what China wants to see, Wang said, adding that it is hoped that the ROK side will work with China to stick to the original intention of establishing diplomatic ties, adhere to the direction of good neighborliness and friendship, stick to the goal of mutually beneficial cooperation, remove disturbances, and make joint efforts to push for the sound and steady development of China-ROK relations. He pointed out that China and the ROK should understand and respect each other, strengthen communication and exchanges, eliminate misunderstandings and enhance mutual trust.
Wang added that China hopes the ROK side abides by the one-China principle, properly and prudently handles Taiwan-related issues, and consolidates the political foundation of bilateral relations. The two sides should send more objective and positive messages, increase positive guidance, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges to consolidate public support for bilateral relations.
China is speeding up the development of new quality productive forces, promoting high-quality development and expanding high-level opening up, which will bring important opportunities to the ROK, Wang said, adding that the two sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, be reliable and long-term partners in each other's development process, jointly oppose trade protectionism, safeguard the international free trade system, and ensure stable and unimpeded production and supply chains.
Cho said that it is hoped that this visit will become an important step forward in ROK-China relations. The ROK government attaches great importance to its relations with China, and looks forward to working closely with China to develop a healthier and more mature strategic cooperative partnership on the basis of mutual respect, reciprocity and common interests.
He added that it is in the common interests of the two countries and peoples and the expectation of the international community to promote the development of ROK-China relations and jointly meet common challenges. The ROK is willing to enhance mutual trust, expand consensus and focus on cooperation with China, thus avoiding geopolitical constraints as much as possible and jointly opening up a new situation of bilateral cooperation.
The two sides also exchanged views on China-Japan-ROK cooperation, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of common concern.
At the invitation of Wang, Cho is visiting China from May 13 to 14.
Chinese foreign minister holds talks with ROK counterpart
