On the morning of March 28, President Xi Jinping met with representatives of the international business community at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. 

    President Xi welcomed them to China, and commended them for their long-standing commitment to cooperation with China. President Xi noted the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and enduring social stability that China has created over the past seven decades since the founding of the People’s Republic, especially over the past four decades of reform and opening up. President Xi underscored that they are due to the strong leadership of the CPC as well as the unity and hard work of the Chinese people, and also to support and help from the international community, including the contribution of foreign businesses operating in China. Thanks to reform and opening up, and importantly to actively leveraging foreign capital, China was able to rapidly enter the global market and catch up with the times in great strides. Foreign businesses and investment in China have driven economic growth and employment, boosted technological and managerial progress, and facilitated reform and opening up. All of this shows that foreign businesses are important participants in the Chinese modernization drive, in the country’s reform, opening and innovation, and in its interconnectivity with the world and integration into economic globalization. In this process, foreign businesses have thrived and generally enjoyed handsome returns, achieved win-win results, and forged profound friendship with the Chinese people. 

    President Xi pointed out that China has been a major contributor to and anchor of stability for global growth for many years. The country is on a Chinese path to modernization in all respects. Committed to the fundamental national policy of opening up to the world, China is advancing high-standard opening up and taking solid steps to expand institutional opening up, such as that of rules, regulations, management, and standards. China’s door will only open wider. The policy of welcoming foreign investment has not changed and will not change. Having the world’s second largest consumer market and largest middle-income group, China offers great potential for investment and consumption. With a commitment to high-quality development, China is accelerating green, digital and smart transformation, which, coupled with the country’s sophisticated industrial ecosystem, provides the best testing ground for the latest outcomes of technological revolution and industrial upgrading. China has developed sound regulations, policies and procedures for foreign investment, promoted trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and made active efforts to foster a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. China enjoys long-standing political stability as well as law and order, and is widely recognized as one of the safest countries in the world. All this shows that China offers a vast stage for business development, vast market prospects, stable policy outlook, and a secure environment, making it a favored choice for foreign investment and business operations. China has been and will remain an ideal, secure, and promising destination for foreign investors. Embracing China is embracing opportunities, believing in China is believing in a better tomorrow, and investing in China is investing in the future.

    President Xi emphasized that the third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee made a road map and timetable for further reforming the regulatory framework for inbound and outbound investment. China will open up wider by focusing on lowering the threshold of market access; ensure equal national treatment for foreign businesses and uphold fair market competition; strengthen communication with foreign businesses, provide as much convenience as possible for them to trade and invest in China, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign businesses in accordance with law. At the same time, China will unswervingly pursue a path of peaceful development and strive to create an enabling environment for foreign businesses.

    President Xi pointed out that multilateralism is the only choice for addressing global challenges, and economic globalization is an unstoppable trend of history. China upholds true multilateralism, promotes universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, actively participates in global economic governance, and is committed to building an open world economy. Foreign businesses, especially multinational companies, play an important role and bear significant responsibility for maintaining the global economic order. They are expected to safeguard the multilateral trading system, maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains, protect the international environment for openness and cooperation, and advance economic globalization in the right direction.

    More than 40 global chairmen and chief executive officers of foreign businesses as well as representatives of business councils attended the meeting. President of the FedEx Corporation Rajesh Subramaniam, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz AG Ola Källenius, Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi SA Paul Hudson, Executive Director of HSBC Holdings Plc. Georges Elhedery, President of Hitachi Ltd. Toshiaki Higashihara, President of SK Hynix Inc. Kwak Noh-jung, and President of Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser spoke at the meeting. They commended China for achieving steady economic growth through deep, comprehensive reform and high-standard opening up under the leadership of President Xi. From “Made in China” to “new quality productive forces,” China has empowered industrial transformation and upgrading through innovation, and is set to realize higher-quality and more sustainable development. The outlook of the Chinese economy is strong. Amidst growing protectionism, China has continuously expanded opening up, injecting stability into the global economy, and has become an oasis of certainty and a hot spot for investment and entrepreneurship. China’s development is the core driving force of the global economy, and offers exciting, vast opportunities and growth potential. They applauded the Chinese government’s efforts to create a fair and enabling environment for foreign businesses and expressed readiness to expand investment cooperation with China, cultivate the China market, actively participate in Chinese modernization, and build bridges for China’s exchanges and cooperation with the world. They also expressed readiness to support an open global market, uphold international free trade, and contribute to the development of the world economy.

    Cai Qi, Wang Yi and He Lifeng, among others, participated in the meeting.