Unified market upgrades biz environment

Editor's Note: As China launches its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), policymakers are strengthening coordination between the "Export to China" and "Shopping in China" campaigns. The effort signals a clear commitment to expanding imports while promoting high-quality consumption. To explore what this means for global business, we invited executives from multinational corporations to share their perspectives on the opportunities in China's vast market, the role of their China operations in global strategy, and their outlook for the years ahead.

Q1 China's GDP grew 5 percent in 2025, reaching 140.19 trillion yuan ($20.29 trillion). For 2026, the government targets growth of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent, with a planned deficit ratio of around 4 percent. How do you assess the credibility and policies backing this target? Amid moderating global demand, what does China's relative growth certainty mean for your company's global capital allocation, earnings outlook and investor expectations? Does the combination of proactive fiscal policies and accommodative monetary measures reinforce your confidence in sustaining or expanding operations in China?

YIN: The growth target set at the two sessions this year demonstrates the stable economic resilience and strong growth potential of China's economy. It not only injects greater certainty into high-quality development, but also encourages multinational enterprises like Schneider Electric to increase investment in China, working together to achieve the ambitious goals. As a major engine of world economic growth, China boasts a vast market, a complete industrial system, and vibrant innovation momentum. The accelerated development of new quality productive forces is continuously expanding the landscape of strategic emerging industries and driving the large-scale transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

ZHANG: As the global economy navigates significant structural headwinds, China's economic framework is acting as a stabilizing force through its immense scale, proactive policy adjustments and resilient industrial base. China's growth target embodies an anchor for corporate planning and capital allocation at a time when global volatility remains elevated. We see among our clients how this shapes global capital flows, which translates into rising demand for cross-border financial solutions and capital markets access. Last year, we successfully helped Chinese enterprises raise nearly $40 billion in international capital markets, underscoring our commitment to the local market, as well as our global capabilities.

LIN: The current global economic landscape is complex and volatile, and global industrial and supply chains are still undergoing profound adjustments. However, the Chinese economy has consistently demonstrated its unique resilience and vitality. The steady growth of the Chinese economy in 2025 attests to its strong resilience and highlights the precise support of policies for high-quality development. This is closely related to a package of policy measures that China has actively promoted for high-quality development. As the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, 2026 sees China setting an economic growth target that is both stable and developmental, aligning with the core demand of foreign enterprises for development certainty and injecting firm confidence into Corning's deep growth in China.

LI: China's 2026 GDP growth target of 4.5–5 percent is credible, supported by both structural policy shifts and proactive fiscal and monetary measures. In 2025, the economy demonstrated resilience, achieving 5 percent growth and strong export performance despite external volatility and trade friction. The 15th Five-Year Plan prioritizes high-quality, innovation-driven growth over scale. Policy support is evident with proactive fiscal measures to bolster consumption and domestic demand, and accommodative monetary policy with further interest rate cuts anticipated. While de-stocking remains real estate developers' top priority in 2026, policies to stimulate legitimate housing demand underpin broader stability.