Against the backdrop of an increasingly complex and uncertain external environment, the Chinese economy is showing the resilience to brave headwinds and move forward, strengthening China's enduring appeal to foreign investors, according to a commentary of The Real Point published on Monday.
An edited English-language version of the commentary is as follows:
Following Monday's release of Chinese economic data for the first two months of this year, Yann Bozec, president of fashion house Tapestry Asia Pacific, said that the attractiveness and vitality of the Chinese economy continue to improve, bringing new opportunities for the development of foreign enterprises in China. For his company, that means by the end of this year they will have opened 100 new stores in China over the past three years.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that China's consumer spending and industrial production have both demonstrated surprisingly robust activities.
In the first two months of this year, most of China's main economic indicators grew faster than the previous year's annual figures.
For example, the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.9 percent in January and February year on year, with the growth rate 0.1 percentage points ahead compared to the previous year. Growth of fixed asset investments was 0.9 percentage points higher in the first two months of 2025 than in 2024.
Overall, China's economy has continued to enjoy a good recovery momentum since the fourth quarter of last year.
China's economy got off to a steady start with new and positive development momentum. In the first two months, the value added of high-tech manufacturing was 0.2 percentage point higher than that of the previous year.
The growth rates of investment in high-tech industries were higher than that of the total investment, indicating that new quality productive forces are steadily developing in the country.
Meanwhile, in February, both the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) in China's manufacturing industry and non-manufacturing PMI rose compared to the previous month's figures. The consumer confidence index has also been rising for three consecutive months, indicating continued improvement of the country's economic expectations.
With the "steady," "new" and "positive" development momentum, China's economy has achieved such a favorable performance since the beginning of the year, which is attributable not only to its strong resilience but also to the combined effects of macroeconomic policies.
China has rolled out a package of policies which have stimulated a relatively rapid growth of industrial production and a further recovery in market sales. The positive economic data for the first two months came against the difficult backdrop of deepening global uncertainties and a relatively high base number from last year.
January and February's economic performance has not only laid a solid foundation for the economy in the first quarter of the year, but also signaled a good start for economic development across the whole of 2025.
Some foreign media outlets have been remarking on the positive signs in the Chinese economy for some time now, with the UK's Financial Times saying that foreign investors are now "rediscovering China," believing that China can bring significant "innovation and opportunity" in specific fields.
In the first two months of this year, retail sales of consumer goods in China went up by four percent year on year, 0.5 percentage points higher than in the same period last year.
During this year's Spring Festival, Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" made its grand debut, storming into the global box office top 5, and highlighting the spending power of Chinese consumers.
During this year's annual political "two sessions" held in Beijing earlier this month, vigorously boosting consumption was listed as a top priority among the 10 major tasks.
On Sunday, China announced special initiatives to increase consumer spending, laying out new policies to drive demand in various key areas such as culture, sports, and tourism.
Zhang Chundi, vice president of Decathlon China, said that the company plans to open 20 to 30 new stores in China annually in the coming two years.
Innovation is a driving force for development. In China, with the acceleration of integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, new growth drivers are forming at a faster pace.
AI large language models like DeepSeek and other new technologies have emerged this year, speeding up the development of the Chinese economy and generating greater interest for foreign enterprises seeking to invest.
Rainer Kern, vice general manager of Karcher China, said that the rapid development of AI in China signifies that intelligence and automation are becoming the future trends in the cleaning industry. The company will continue to invest in the field of AI to meet user demands with new technologies.
Continued opening of the Chinese market gives foreign investors more confidence in deepening their presence in China. There are more market opportunities for foreign investment, more diverse investment means, and more convenient operation environment.
A batch of major foreign investment projects are well underway across the country, with the planned amount of investment reaching as high as 33 billion U.S. dollars.
"Optimistic sentiment" and "expectation of bullish growth" remain key words for the development of foreign-funded enterprises in China.
China remains appealing to foreign investors amid complex global environment: commentary
