Global business leaders attending the ongoing China Development Forum said that China is a source of innovation and investing in the country signaling clarity on the future, certainty and win-win results.
Themed "China in its 15th Five-Year Plan period: advancing high-quality development and creating new opportunities together", the two-day forum, which kicked off on Sunday, highlights China's role as a key engine of global development as the country begins its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).
At the "two sessions" earlier this month, where the 15th Five-Year Plan was officially approved, Chinese policymakers highlighted four major areas of opportunity for foreign investors: super-large consumer market, the expanding services sector, the innovation ecosystem and new pacesetters of opening up.
Philippe Delorme, president and CEO of KONE Corporation, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, said his company's strategies fully align with China's 15th Five-Year Plan and believes China's clear development direction benefits global businesses and policy predictability helping firms make targeted investments.
"So, I would like to say what's great with China is there is a lot of clarity on the future, on the direction of the future. And I would say for us as a business, it's extremely helpful. Because we know what to expect, we know where the public policies, and that's just helpful for us to make the right investment in the right place. So, we really welcome that clarity, and we are very happy to contribute to the Five-Year Plan with our biggest innovations," he said.
Denis Depoux, global managing director of Roland Berger, a German global consultancy, hailed China as a powerful engine of innovation and a testbed for new products, giving Chinese companies confidence to compete on the global stage.
"There's so much innovation happening here. There's so much consumer markets innovation happening here. So, China is both a source of innovation now. It's a testbed for new products with rapid adoption or rejection. So, it's quite easy to test new products in China," he said.
John Quelch, executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University in China, said global companies are willing to deepen cooperation with Chinese partners and believe investing in China is a win-win situation.
"Many of those CEOs are in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, high-tech, and these sectors are areas where they need the China market, but also they need cooperation with China and China itself needs cooperation with those companies to further advance its technological ambitions as well. So, it's a potential win-win," he said.
Since its inception in 2000, the China Development Forum has become one of the country's major platforms for dialog among Chinese government officials, global business leaders, international organizations, and scholars.
Investing in China signals certainty, win-win results: global business leaders
