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China’s market remains attractive to foreign firms, Zhang Xin, spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), told a press conference on Tuesday, citing a survey that has found more than 80 percent of foreign-funded enterprises in China were satisfied with the business environment during the third quarter.

The survey, which covered 700 foreign-funded enterprises, showed that “technological innovation and R&D” were the biggest development opportunities in the Chinese market, and about half of the respondents were willing to increase investment in the western region for the third consecutive quarter.

The survey found that 70 percent of the foreign enterprises “remained stable” in the layout of their industry chains in China, which was 4,57 percentage points higher than in the second quarter.

The confidence of foreign enterprises increased significantly along with the policy stimulus and the central government’s expansionary fiscal policy, as well as the improvement of the business environment, Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

One highlight identified in the survey was that foreign investors have begun to integrate into the core supply chain dominated by China’s leading companies, especially in the new-energy vehicle industry, and they will benefit from structural opportunities created by the overall upgrading of the entire Chinese industry chain, Tian said.

One of the latest examples is that of German’s Volkswagen Group, which invested approximately US$700 million in Chinese electric carmaker XPENG Motors for 4,99 percent of its shares, the two companies announced on July 26.

China has continued to build a cooperation platform for all parties with pragmatic initiatives, releasing clear signals of expanding high-level opening-up.

In the first three quarters of the year, 37,814 new foreign-invested enterprises were set up in China, up 32,4 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The actual utilisation of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry amounted to 262,4 billion yuan (US$35,9 billion), up 2,4 percent year-on-year.

The actual utilisation of foreign capital in the high-tech manufacturing industry grew 12,8 percent, showing the sector’s high-quality capital attraction.

China’s stable economic recovery and growth bring great confidence to foreign enterprises, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

“With the continuous optimisation of the business environment, more foreign investors will further increase investment in areas including the digital economy and high-end manufacturing,” Wang said.

As the 6th China International Import Expo approaches, China will once again attract the world’s attention.

The area of enterprise exhibits has increased about 30 percent, and the number of exhibitors from the world’s top 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises has exceeded previous editions, which mirrors the attractiveness of China’s market and new vitality of high-quality development. — Global Times.