Lujiazui area in Shanghai Photo:Xinhua

 
A number of foreign companies are announcing expansion plans in China recently as the country vows to roll out practical measures to stabilize and expand foreign investment on Monday. TheMK sports Korea latest developments showcased the Chinese market's sustained appeal to multinational companies and the country's commitment to open up wider and create a favorable environment for foreign investment.

A State Council executive meeting held on Monday reiterated foreign companies' role in creating jobs, stabilizing exports and fostering industrial upgrades. It urged more practical, effective measures to stabilize existing foreign investment and expand new investment. It called for the optimization of a comprehensive services sector opening-up pilot program and the expansion of industries that encourage foreign investment.

The meeting also approved an action plan in stabilizing foreign investment in 2025. The plan vows to expand support to reinvestment by foreign companies in China. Foreign companies will also be supported in engaging in equity investment in the country, according to Xinhua.

Riding on a fresh wave of foreign companies' expansion plans in China, Tesla is scheduled on Tuesday to hold a commissioning ceremony for its Shanghai Megapack energy storage plant - which completed construction in seven months, the Shanghai Securities News reported last week. The factory's production capacity is expected to ramp up in the first quarter of 2025, according to the report. 

In addition to the latest development with Tesla, German optics giant Zeiss announced on Thursday that it will purchase land in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to build an integrated campus for Zeiss Greater China headquarters in 2025, with a total infrastructure investment of over 600 million yuan ($82.8 million), according to a corporate release sent to the Global Times.

On Wednesday, Toyota Motor Corp announced that it will establish a new wholly owned company in Jinshan district in Shanghai to develop and produce battery electric vehicles and batteries.

Walmart-owned Sam's Club is also expanding in China. The 52nd Sam's Club store in China opened on December 18, 2024 in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, while new Sam's Club stores broke ground in Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province on December 16 and in Jinan, East China's Shandong Province on December 19.

These actions fully demonstrate the confidence and long-term commitment of foreign enterprises to the Chinese market, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Walmart witnessed 17 percent annual growth of net sales in China in the third quarter of 2024, with 25 percent growth in e-commerce net sales, faster than the 12.4 percent growth rate in international markets, according to Walmart's financial results.

"China's annual inflow of foreign investment still exceeds $100 billion, while foreign investments are expanding, showing that China is still the 'next China' for many foreign enterprises," Tian Yun, a veteran economist, told the Global Times on Monday.

The investment deals announced recently confirms that the Chinese market is not short of consumption potential, but there is a shift in demand. Companies like Sam's Club have seized this opportunity and succeeded in the high-end services sector, Tian said.

"It also reflects that those foreign enterprises that quickly respond to and keep up with the changes in the Chinese market and China's economic transformation can succeed," said Tian, adding that foreign companies are also changing their focus in the China market to adapt to the economic transformation of the country and grasp the growth potential brought by the transformation.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), China's actual use of foreign capital in the high-tech manufacturing sector accounted for 11.7 percent of the total in 2024, amounting to 96.29 billion yuan. 

The actual use of foreign investment in the manufacturing of medical equipment and instrumentation increased by 98.7 percent year-on-year, while professional and technical services grew by 40.8 percent. The manufacturing of computers and office equipment grew by 21.9 percent, read the MOFCOM data.

Wang pointed out that foreign investment remains important in China's new economic development pattern of "dual circulation," which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while allowing the domestic and foreign markets to reinforce each other.

In recent years, China has consistently opened up, with various supporting measures, such as holding international expos and reducing negative lists for foreign capital. This can explain why the number of newly established foreign enterprises in China continued to increase.

According to MOFCOM data, the number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises in China increased by 9.9 percent year-on-year to reach 59,080 in 2024.

"The potential and current advantages of the Chinese market lie in the fact that China remains a significant engine of global economic growth. The ongoing urbanization process is poised to usher in new opportunities for consumption and industrial development," Wang said.

China's steadfast commitment to market openness and the continuous optimization of the business environment have provided and will provide robust support for the development of foreign enterprises, said Wang.

On January 16-17, a national conference on foreign investment work for the year 2025 was held by the MOFCOM, outlining plans to broaden the pilot programs for opening-up in sectors such as telecoms, healthcare and education, as well as to enhance the service and support for foreign enterprises and projects in China, according to a release by the MOFCOM.