Top foreign business leaders bullish about Chinese economy, market

Top foreign business leaders have reaffirmed their confidence in China's economic development and market potential at the 37th International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai.

The event was held on Sunday in Shanghai with the theme "Openness, Innovation, and Inclusiveness: Shanghai's Development Strategy Towards 2030."

Forty-five top global entrepreneurs from 17 countries participated in thematic discussions on technology empowerment, strategic advantages, openness, and green practices, among others, at the meeting.

Severin Schwan, chairman of Swiss multinational holding healthcare company Roche Group, emphasized China's development potential driven by innovation.

"There's even a bigger potential here, and this is about innovation. My experience is that China is innovating very fast and China is able to scale innovations very quickly. So it's a good starting point to develop innovations for Shanghai, for China and actually for the whole world," he told reporters at the meeting venue.

Bjorn Gulden, CEO of Adidas, said at the event that it's not a question of whether foreign businesses should invest in China, but how they invest and utilize the resources of China.

He also went to a local university for exchanges with students, and said he is confident about China's sports market.

"So the plan is to continue to invest in the organization, very important that we have Chinese local management and that we have creatives who can create product. And then the speed of the market depends on also how the economy develops. But we are very, very optimistic when we see what we see. So we will invest in people, in stores, in technologies and design to grow the business," said Gulden.

The advisory council was first initiated in 1989 with only 12 members. This year, six new members joined the council.

The next meeting will take place on October 11, 2026.

Shanghai is one of the top destinations in China for foreign investment.

The city had established over 3,000 new foreign businesses and attracted around 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment in the first half of 2025.

Top foreign business leaders bullish about Chinese economy, market

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival