China's commitment to high-quality development and an open economy is unlocking new growth avenues for global businesses, with multinational corporations increasingly tapping into the country's innovation-driven market, participants noted at the just-concluded China Development Forum 2025.
The China Development Forum (CDF), the first major international conference after China's Two Sessions this year, was held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday, attracting the wide attendance of international organizations as well as CEOs from over 80 multinational giants including Apple, BMW AG and AstraZeneca.
A total of 86 senior representatives from 21 countries attended, underscoring China's enduring appeal as a hub for investment and technological collaboration.
"And we see a tremendous amount of runway today, and we have almost 400 stores in this market in over 90 cities in China. And we see tremendous amount of growth potential in the future," said Joanne Crevoiserat, CEO of Tapestry Inc.
Many multinationals are expanding their research and development presence in China, drawn by its advanced digital infrastructure and skilled workforce.
"China provides many opportunities on the production side. In our plant in Shenyang, where we use more than 200 different AI applications already, that is not something new and that has been built up already since 2018. It's our most progressive plant in terms of AI," said Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG.
On the other hand, Chinese firms are increasingly exporting high-end manufacturing and clean energy solutions worldwide.
"Innovation and development bring not only opportunities, but also market size. In fact, we are basically filled with orders for wind power products this year, and the transfer of technology and equipment to the world is now in full swing. Companies in the field of electronic information, and artificial intelligence are connecting with us to build support systems for green electricity and zero-carbon energy," said Zhang Chuanwei, president of Mingyang Smart Energy Group.
Since the start of 2025, China has taken multi-pronged measures to stabilize foreign investment. In January, the country issued an action plan to stabilize foreign investment, as the country mulls expanding the scope of its opening-up pilot program this year, while related government agencies have helped resolve more than 500 issues for foreign-funded enterprises through roundtable meetings, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Global firms eye vast opportunities in China's innovation-driven market
South African investment analysts and mining industry insiders are betting that the country's position as a leading producer of platinum group metals (PGMs), which are widely used in hydrogen, fuel cell and emissions reduction technologies, will offset the pain inflicted by U.S. tariffs targeting other South African exports.
As part of the Trump administration's tariff policy, all South African goods entering the U.S. are now subject to a 30-percent duty, with a specific 25-percent tariff imposed on vehicles and car parts. However, key mineral exports such as PGMs, coal, gold, manganese and chrome have been explicitly excluded from these new tariffs.
Platinum, together with other critical minerals like palladium and rhodium, is used to make auto catalysts for vehicle exhausts.
Robbie Proctor, an investment analyst with Anchor Capital in South Africa, observed that the United States may be able to source other critical minerals like palladium, but America does not have an alternative market for platinum other than South Africa.
"With the amount of recycled volumes of palladium that come into the market there, they actually could be almost self-sufficient in palladium. However, there is no chance of them being self-sufficient in platinum, regardless of how much investment goes in. Does the U.S. have an alternative market for platinum? The answer is a definite no," Proctor told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in an interview.
The exclusion of PGMs from the new U.S. tariff regime was widely anticipated by South Africa's mining industry, because without the commodity, America's automotive industry would not be able to manufacture catalytic converters and other component parts.
"The U.S. is a very big automotive sector. It's only second to China in terms of size and so, it's a big sector. And PGMs are a critical part of the catalytic converter exhaust management systems which are there to clean the air. And so, palladium and rhodium and obviously platinum are very important in those particular processes," said Roger Baxter, executive chairman of Southern Palladium, a key play in South Africa's exploration and development of PGMs.
South Africa's Sibanye Stillwater is one of the world's largest producers of PGMs and has operations in the U.S. The company sees opportunity in the turmoil.
"Having that footprint in the U.S. is for us strategically important, because I think a lot of this is about securing supply for the U.S. in terms of critical metals, self-generated, self-mined, self-developed," said Richard Stewart, chief regional officer of Africa at Sibanye Stillwater.
To Craig Miller, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, it is essential that South Africa's mining industry shift to the development of clean energy technologies going forward as the world quickly transitions away from internal combustion engines.
"We produce metals and we sell them globally, both to Europe, to China, to Japan, and to the U.S., but as a company, we are really focused around the future uses of PGMs as well, so actively looking at market development, and that market development is really in the form of new energy and in hydrogen," he said.
Others in the mining industry see a bright future for platinum jewelry, as the rare metal has become the metal of choice for South African jewelry designers due to its durability and resiliency, especially in the uncertain global trade environment.
"We've seen platinum ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) are similar to gold. But I think this is where there's an opportunity to do a lot more work on the demand side to increase the opportunities for investment and demand in platinum," said Mzila Mthenjane, CEO of Minerals Council South Africa.
S Africa expected to withstand shock from US tariffs as world's leading platinum producer
