Greater Opportunities From Higher-Level Opening Up

With the novel coronavirus disease（COVID-19） slowing down the global economic momentum， multinational enterprises see promising opportunities in China as it continues to deepen its opening up.

Recently， politicians， scholars and entrepreneurs from around the world hailed Chinas push for widening its opening up and called for deeper international cooperation during a forum at the Fifth Understanding China Conference held in Guangzhou， Guangdong Province in south China.

Despite a grim and complex economic situation both domestically and globally due to the pandemic， China has not decelerated its efforts in opening up. Rather， the country has made an advancement to cover more fi elds and embrace deeper-level reforms.

China has continuously cut the number of sectors and businesses that are off-limits for investment in its negative list for market access in recent years， providing huge opportunities for foreign companies and stimulating the vitality of market entities.

Its new dual circulation strategy will not only help to protect the economy from the volatility of external markets but will also help drive future economic development in a more balanced and sustainable way. These manifest a sign of reassurance for foreign investors of Chinas strong recovery potential and future sustainable growth， according to Merlin Swire， Chairman of Swire Pacific Ltd. Introduced in May， dual circulation refers to a pattern of development in which domestic and foreign markets complement and reinforce one another， with the domestic market as the mainstay.

“As committed investors， we welcome Chinas ongoing policy of higher-level opening up. The Foreign Investment Law， which came into effect early this year， offers greater protection for investors and ensures a more level playing field and optimized business environment for foreign fi rms like Swire，” Swire said.

As China is committed to opening its door wider to the rest of the world， multinational businesses are committed to deepening their development footprints in the country as well.

In the fi rst three quarters this year， Chinas paid-in foreign investment saw a year-on-year increase of 2.5 percent to $103.26 billion， data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

From initial drug sales to the formation of a complete industrial chain， including research and development， production and marketing， Roche Pharma Chinas business has made great progress along with Chinas economic development and medical reform in the past 26 years.

“China not only has huge market potential but also a large number of medical and research institutions， as well as top scientists， making it a source of innovation and talents，” Hong Chow， CEO of Roche Pharma China， said.

Chow said in the future， stronger intellectual property protection and a market-oriented， law-based and internationalized business environment would accelerate the conversion of innovative achievements into products in China， benefi ting the people and enabling sustainable development of enterprises.

In the process of Chinas opening up to a higher level， multinational enterprises will play a crucial role and gain greater opportunities， according to Yun Mingqing， Vice President of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy.

“We should further enhance the sense of cooperation and development， strengthen mutual understanding and trust， deepen mutually benefi cial cooperation， and carry out economic and technological cooperation at various levels， in wider areas and all directions，” Yun said.