Dynamic clearance puts growth of firmer footing

Key advantages

Justin Yifu Lin, a former World Bank chief economist, said that faced with complicated challenges in the international economic situation, China needs to maintain dynamic economic growth while accelerating opening-up.

Speaking at a Tsinghua University economists' forum in Beijing late last month, he said latecomer advantage, a huge domestic market, considerable economic output, and a good policy environment are among China's key advantages in pursuing stable economic growth.

Nicolas Poirot, president and CEO of the China unit of Air Liquide Group, a French industrial and medical gas supplier with 120 plants in China, said the company's amount of work and logistics situation have improved in and around Shanghai with the issuance of special permits from the authorities.

These improvements have been witnessed since the first batch of companies in strategically important sectors were given approval to resume work, Poirot said.

Even though the epidemic has resulted in some unpredictability over the transportation of raw materials and products, the dynamic zero-COVID approach and united efforts from various levels of governments and industries in China have kept the group's employees safe from the epidemic, and also improved its access to supplies, he said.

Shu Jueting, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a recent regular news conference that China will continue to stabilize foreign investment and provide a better business environment and services for foreign companies.

In the first four months of this year, foreign direct investment in use on the Chinese mainland rose by 20.5 percent year-on-year to 478.61 billion yuan, data from the ministry show.

Thanks to the Chinese economy's huge scale, strong resilience, increasing openness, and ongoing transformation and upgrading, the nation remains a top destination for foreign investment.

Moreover, according to Lin, who is also dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, China is the largest trading partner for more than 120 economies, and the second-largest trading partner for 70 economies.

As long as the nation maintains dynamic economic expansion and adheres to opening-up, its growth promises opportunities for other economies, he said.

Danfoss Group, one of Denmark's largest industrial enterprises, recently launched new products such as scroll compressors and converters especially designed and optimized to meet the specific needs of Chinese customers.

Earlier this year, the company opened a new application development center in Haiyan, Zhejiang province, to support its climate solution businesses in the Chinese market.

Xu Yang, president of Danfoss China, said that despite disruptions to the company's operations and production caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, it remains confident in the long-term prospects for the Chinese market and is determined to increase investment in the country.

"As the epidemic is being brought under control, and the nation's measures to shore up economic growth take more effect, the Chinese economy is certain to resume its normal growth momentum," Xu said.

Danfoss' confidence in China is based on the nation's pursuit of high-quality development and its commitment to carbon reduction goals, Xu added.

The company focuses on areas such as green and low-carbon technology, electronification, modernization of agriculture, and cold-chain logistics, he said, adding that China has become its second-largest sales market and largest sourcing market.

Poirot, from Air Liquide Group, said that faced with the impact of the pandemic globally, plus uncertainty in the international business community, reshaping the global industrial chain is a complex task.

Lower production costs, along with mature upstream and downstream industrial chains and infrastructure are still the main considerations for corporate investment decisions, he said.

China has been one of the group's top three markets for several years, and the significance of the Chinese market continues to increase, he added.

"The nation will likely continue to lead in manufacturing sectors such as steel, chemicals, photovoltaics, smartphones and cars, while the industrial gas market in China is also growing fast," Poirot added.

Li Fusheng contributed to this story.