Senior executives of multinational corporations have acknowledged China's latest efforts in facilitating foreign investment, emphasizing that the comprehensive approach proposed at China's government work report for 2026 further advance the country's opening up while providing more support for foreign enterprises.
At the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a government work report that unveiled China's key achievements in 2025, the country's major new achievements over the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the main targets for development this year, and the major development targets for the next five years (2026-2030).
Tu Changming, senior director of Yihai Kerry Golden Dragon Fish, a leading Singapore-based agricultural and food products processing enterprise, said that these targets will help companies like Yihai Kerry to supply Chinese consumers with healthier food choices.
"The government work report proposed to build a strong domestic market and achieve the goal of keeping domestic residents' income in line with economic growth. This means that the grain, oil and food consumption market will continue to grow, and consumer demand will upgrade from eating enough to eating well and healthily. This is highly consistent with our group's overall strategic layout and the development of health products," said Tu.
Another foreign enterprise that has spoken highly of the work report is Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company that is heavily investing into AI-powered research and development, as well as digital health solutions.
Shi Wang, president of Sanofi Greater China, envisioned a bright prospect for the company's cooperation with its Chinese counterparts in the field of sci-tech research and innovation.
"China's investment in research and development has grown at a very rapid pace, with considerable overall scale. More than 90 percent of the key products in our global research and development pipeline have achieved simultaneous global development, and some products had the privilege of being launched globally for the first time. We want to participate in this force of biomedical innovation in China, not only to serve Chinese patients, but also, on a larger scale, to form strong alliances and utilize these innovative and groundbreaking biomedical products to serve patients worldwide," he said.
Business leaders also said that China's efforts to expand its opening-up have greatly facilitated foreign companies in observing and establishing themselves in this market.
"On the first working day of the new year, Jing'an District (Shanghai) invited our company to the district government office to discuss the key tasks for 2026, and to learn more about the company's potential needs and difficulties in operation in the new year. Many of our questions were answered or even resolved on the spot. You can see the importance of the business environment, which is one of the favorable reasons why we are willing to further develop in China," Shi said.
"As one of the largest wholly foreign-owned property insurance companies in China, AXA Tianping has undergone a transformation from a joint venture to a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. The report specifically mentioned steadily expanding institutional openness, providing a fair competitive environment and a broader stage for cooperation for foreign-invested enterprises, and injecting strong momentum into industry innovation," said Kevin Chor, CEO of AXA Tianping Property and Casualty Insurance Company.
Multinational corporations acknowledge China's efforts to facilitate foreign investment
