By Chen Ling
China’s development will provide more opportunities for the world as the country’s market will only open even wider.
Today, imported cherries are no longer a rarity for many Chinese people. However, quite a few people do not seem to realize that the popularity of cherries in China has given birth to business opportunities to the other side of the Pacific.
At the beginning of this year, eight containers of fresh cherries from Argentina’s Patagonia arrived at a Chinese port. The cherries were quickly snapped up during the Spring Festival. The event indicated that following Chile’s lead, cherries from Argentina are entering the Chinese market. It is also a vivid reflection of win-win cooperation and mutual benefit and bore testimony to China’s greater opening up.
Today’s China is not only the “world factory”, but also the “world market”. Data in 2018 showed that in one hour, China’s import and export value exceeded $500 million, people’s shopping and dining consumption reached 4.3 billion yuan, and express companies handled over 6 million express parcels.
Doug DeVos, co-chairman of the Board of Amway Corporation, spoke highly of the Chinese market for its large scale and strong momentum, adding that he was deeply impressed by China’s huge market, as well as its vitality and potential.
The huge market brings enormous opportunities. With nearly 1.4 billion people and one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing middle-income groups, China’s gigantic consumer market indicates unique potential and presents a reservoir of development opportunities for the world to explore \.
More importantly, the quality of the Chinese market has also been improved. In the country, people used to care about what they could buy, but now they emphasize better products and brands. They prefer diversified, personalized and quality products to cheaper ones, indicating a rising momentum for consumption upgrading.
Economic transformation has provided potential opportunities for more and more multinational companies, who are seeking to expand their investment in China. For example, Tesla becomes the first wholly foreign-funded new energy automobile company in the country. Starbucks plans to add 600 new stores each year in China’s mainland. German chemical giant BASF pours $10 billion to construct a production base in Zhanjiang, south China’s Guangdong province.
It is the precious opportunities brought about by China’s economic transformation and upgrading that attract foreign investment. It’s fair to say that China’s development is an opportunity for the world, and the faster China develops, the more opportunities it will create for the world.
In the era of economic globalization, companies prefer open markets when they make investments. China has always pursued deeper reform and opening up and improved business environment with strong determination and steady strides.
The country has approved the foreign investment law, adopted the pre-establishment national treatment and negative list management, cut the number of items subject to government approval, and announced to further lower tariffs and remove various non-tariff barriers.
China’s sincerity makes it a hot place for investment. Despite cross-border investment declining 19 percent in 2018 globally, China actually used $138.3 billion in foreign investment, ranking first among developing countries. More than 60,000 foreign-funded enterprises were established in China in the same year, an increase of 69.8%.
A more open China with unlimited potential will surely become a magnet for foreign investors.
The Chinese people see great truth in the saying that “he who travels alone goes fast， but he who travels in company goes far.” China is willing to share development opportunities with other countries.
The Chinese people always keep their promises. All countries will enjoy friendship featuring win-win cooperation and tangible benefits from their engagement with China.
As history has shown and will continue to bear witness to the fact that a more open China will further integrate itself into the world and deliver greater progress and prosperity for both China and the world at large.
