MNC execs eye business expansion in China

Editor's Note: This year marks a critical milestone as China concludes its 14th Five-Year Plan. To help in assessing the success of the process, we have asked multinational executives to share with our readers their insights about their business achievements in the past few years and further expectations in the years to come.

Q1 What are your expectations for the two sessions? Do you expect any specific policy measures for further deepening reforms and expanding high-level opening-up? What more should China do to create a more enabling business environment for foreign investors?

MA: China is one of Nissan's core markets and we are proud to have contributed to the growth of its automotive sector for over five decades.

China's recent steps to optimize the business environment, exemplified by the "2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment", further strengthened our confidence in deepening our presence in China. We are closely following the two sessions, anticipating supportive policies on new energy vehicles and intelligent mobility. These areas, where China excels and Nissan invests heavily, are vital for a sustainable automotive future.

Leveraging global expertise in electrification and autonomous driving, along with local partnerships, we aim to create innovative products, strengthen our local supply chain and create value for the Chinese automotive industry.

YIN: In recent years, China has been steadfast in developing "new quality productive forces" and accelerating high-quality development, which not only prompts various industries to accelerate their transformation toward digitalization and decarbonization, but also creates broader development space for Schneider Electric. At the same time, China's continued efforts to expand high-level opening-up and optimize the environment for foreign investment, as evidenced by the recent release of the "2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment", have further bolstered our confidence in our development in China. Having operated in the Chinese mainland for 38 years, Schneider Electric has been comprehensively strengthening its capabilities and ecosystem under the unwavering "China Hub" strategy, which integrates all forces from R&D to production and sales.

AN: Over the past 50 years, Henkel has witnessed and actively participated in China's economic growth, benefiting from the country's ongoing opening-up and continuous improvements in the business environment.

In February, the "2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment" proposed initiatives to advance a higher-level open economic system and further support foreign enterprises in investing and expanding their presence in China. This has strengthened our confidence in deepening our presence and increasing our investments in the Chinese market.

We believe the trend toward high-level opening-up will continue in the coming years. We also appreciate new initiatives that drive innovation and further enhance the business environment, fostering an improved market system that supports sustainable growth.

CHEN: The two sessions provide China with an opportunity to introduce policy measures that further deepen reforms and expand high-level opening-up. Notably, the State Council recently released its"2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment", which affirmed the government's commitment to higher-standard opening-up and continuous business environment improvements, encouraging both Chinese enterprises and multinational corporations like Unilever. With a century-long presence in China, Unilever has witnessed significant progress in the optimization of China's business environment and remains confident in the market. Looking ahead, we believe China's resilient and dynamic market will inject greater vitality into the fast-moving consumer goods sector, creating new opportunities for growth.