How can foreign investment benefit?, International Sharp Review | China Maintaining Global Growth Engine Position Investment | China | Global
Siemens invested 1.1 billion yuan in new fixed assets investment to build a Chinese intelligent manufacturing base for industrial automation products in Chengdu; The BMW sixth generation power battery project with a total investment of 10 billion yuan is fully underway in Shenyang; US vaccine manufacturer Modena has signed an investment memorandum in China, preparing to research, manufacture, and sell mRNA drugs in China... Since the beginning of this year, foreign investment has increased in China.
Their confidence was further validated in the national economic data for the first half of 2023 released by the Chinese government on the 17th. According to preliminary calculations, China's gross domestic product in the first half of the year was 59303.4 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 5.5% at constant prices. This growth rate is faster than that of major developed economies in the world, and China continues to be the global growth engine.
For foreign investors, this first means a huge market opportunity. From the perspective of the consumer market, in the first half of the year, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China reached 2275.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%, an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared to the first quarter. The contribution rate of the growth of final consumption expenditure to economic growth exceeds 70%, which is significantly higher than the contribution rate of the entire year last year. German automaker Mercedes Benz Group recently released sales data for the first half of the year, showing that the Chinese market continues to be its largest single market, with car sales in China reaching 374600 units in the first half of the year, an increase of 7% compared to the same period last year.
It can be seen that foreign investment gains tangible benefits. According to the calculation of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the return on foreign investment in China in the past five years has been 9.1%, compared to around 3% in Europe and America, and 4% to 8% in emerging economies. Since the beginning of this year, China has actively promoted the construction of a high standard market system, accelerated the construction of a unified national market, steadily expanded institutional openness, and accelerated the creation of a market-oriented, legal, and international business environment. In this context, executives from multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, Pfizer, Starbucks, Rio Tinto, and Saudi Aramco have come to China one after another. For enterprises, the "production to production ratio" is their primary consideration for investment and development.
Currently, it has become a consensus among many international professionals that China provides important support for the operation of global industrial and supply chains. In the first half of this year, the total import and export value of China's goods trade exceeded 20 trillion yuan for the first time in history, with a year-on-year increase of 2.1%. This is quite challenging in the context of a significant slowdown in international demand.
At the 2023 S ã o Paulo Consumer Electronics Exhibition, "China Smart Manufacturing" was favored by the Latin American market and led the industry's development trend. Some Brazilian viewers have expressed that Chinese companies now have very reliable technology and products, and they are using Chinese made sweeping robots in their homes.
China continues to play a role in global governance and also brings many conveniences to foreign investment. Recently, negotiations on the text of the WTO Investment Facilitation Agreement have concluded. "Investment facilitation" is an important issue that China took the lead in setting up and successfully concluding negotiations at the World Trade Organization. During the negotiation process, the Chinese side has put forward 15 formal proposals and put forward practical solutions to the negotiation difficulties multiple times, playing an important role in the success of the negotiations. According to relevant institutions, if this agreement is successfully implemented, it will bring up to $1 trillion in economic growth benefits to the world.
Currently, the global economy is facing multiple challenges such as high inflation, geopolitical conflicts, energy and food crises, and stability has become a scarce resource. And what China provides is precisely this kind of certainty. The overall recovery of China's economy has laid the foundation for achieving the expected goals of economic and social development for the whole year.
Foreign media have pointed out that Wall Street is counting on China to "maintain its position as a global growth engine" for the rest of this year. At present, the official attitude of China is very clear, focusing on stabilizing growth, employment, and risk prevention, and implementing a series of policy measures as soon as possible. Although the external environment is becoming more complex and severe, and domestic economic development is also facing pressure, the long-term positive fundamentals of the Chinese economy have not changed, and the characteristics of strong resilience, great potential, and abundant vitality have not changed. It is not difficult to understand why the international community widely agrees that "investing in China is investing in the future.".
