Ministry of Commerce: Multinational corporations' investment in China presents' three transformations'

Beijing, August 25th (Xinhua) -- The State Council Information Office held a press conference on August 25th to introduce the relevant information of the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade. Ling Ji, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations, introduced at the press conference that based on the current investment of multinational corporations in China and their participation in investment fairs in recent years, there are "three transformations" in the new trend of multinational corporations investing in China.

The first shift is from a focus on cost to a focus on value. Currently, foreign investment in China is no longer solely based on traditional factors such as labor and land costs. They are more concerned with efficient industrial ecology, superior infrastructure, especially the supply of new production factors such as green electricity and computing power, as well as an efficient supply chain system, a vibrant innovation ecosystem, and high-quality talent supply. These advantages are important driving forces for the development of multinational corporations in China, and also important factors for them to form competitiveness globally.

The second transformation is from "filling gaps" to "forging strength". Early multinational corporations mainly targeted China's funding and supply gaps, and could quickly achieve success in China by introducing capital, mature technology, business models, and management. In recent years, with the improvement of China's industrial development level, market competition has become increasingly fierce, and the richness and diversification of consumer application scenarios, more and more multinational companies are using China as a "training ground" or "gym" to enhance their global competitiveness. In our communication with many multinational executives, we often hear the saying, 'If you can succeed in the Chinese market, then you can achieve greater success in other parts of the world,' "said Ling Ji.

The third transformation is from "independent operation" to "collaborative development". In the past, many foreign-funded enterprises invested in China by building their own research and development and supply chain systems, relying on the internal industrial ecology of multinational corporations to complete the supporting supply chain. Therefore, in the past, many foreign-funded enterprises in China were "big in, big out". With the increasingly complete and efficient industrial and supply chain system in China, more and more foreign-funded enterprises are deeply integrating into the Chinese industrial ecosystem, continuously improving their localization level, and strengthening their collaborative development with Chinese partners.