International business executives, drawing on decades of experience in China, have hailed the country's open, inclusive and fast-evolving market at the Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit 2026, which was held in Beijing on Monday.
Launched in 2022, the annual event held by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) serves as a key platform for businesses at home and from abroad to enhance communication, deepen cooperation and seek common development.
Themed "Connecting the Future Through Innovation", this year's summit focused on new requirements outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for developing new quality productive forces, as well as new trends and hotspots in the global economy.
Representatives from foreign companies and chambers of commerce, many of whom have lived in China for two or three decades, said they were deeply impressed by China's digital development over the past two years.
"Like, if we look at the Spring (Festival) Gala last year and the Spring (Festival) Gala this year, the show with the robot, you can see such a huge leap advancement in the technology for just one year, and how these robots perform," said Jelena Grubor Stefanovic, director of Representative Office of Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China. She was referring to the spectacular robot performances of sophisticated human movements at China's Spring Festival Gala aired live worldwide in February.
"I think one of the things that most impressed me was DeepSeek. But what was really surprising was how in the space of a very short period of time, DeepSeek overtook ChatGPT on the App Store, and how the narratives that had been built up over decades, the narratives in boardrooms, in newsrooms, and in capital markets around the world really changed. It just shows how the world had misread the extent to which China had developed its capabilities, and I think that was a real turning point to me among the last 30 years of experience here in living in China," said Vaughn Barber, chair of China-Australia Chamber of Commerce.
Attendees also spoke highly of China's significant progress in green transition and AI development, which was greatly facilitated by the country's market size, innovation pace, and institutional advantages.
"First, I see very big good potentials in renewable energy. Renewable energy will support electric mobility, AI, computing, data centers," said Tumentsogt Tsevegmid, chairman of the Business Council of Mongolia.
"The reason to stay in China from our perspective are predictability, stability and having a common sense and reasonable look towards trade," said Edward Allison-Wright, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the World Trade Centers Association.
"I see the opportunities in new energy. Europe and the UK desperately need renewable new energy to improve the lives of ordinary 'laobaixing' (Chinese word meaning ordinary people)," said Chris Torrens, Chair, British Chamber of Commerce in China.
"I put here, one, two, three, four, five reasons to be in China. First, it's the China speed; the second is the size of the market; third, is innovation; fourth, is the talent pool; and last is the research and development ecosystem and the policies supporting business. So I think that this combination is what makes China unique," said Pablo Gimenez Machado, executive vice president of Suzano Asia Business Management.
Int'l business leaders hail China's vast, fast-evolving market at Beijing trade summit
