WITH the COVID-19 outbreak slowing down the global economic momentum, multinational enterprises see promising opportunities in China as the country continues to deepen its opening up.

Politicians, scholars and entrepreneurs from around the world Saturday hailed China’s 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.

China has made an advancement to cover a broader scope, more fields and embrace deeper level reforms. The country 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.

China’s new “dual circulation strategy” will not only help to protect the Chinese 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 China’s strong recovery potential and future sustainable growth, according to Merlin Swire, chairman of Swire Pacific Ltd.

“As committed investors, we welcome China’s ongoing policy of higher-level opening up. The new 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 firms like Swire,” Swire said.

In addition to the Swire Group, many other foreign enterprises have increased their capital and production in China.

In the first three quarters of this year, China’s paid-in foreign investment saw a year-on-year increase of 2.5 percent to US$103.26 billion, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

(Xinhua)