Wider opening-up to draw more foreign investment
China will remain a prime long-term destination for global investors, driven by its vast consumer market, deeper opening-up and rapid advances in digital and green technologies, which are reshaping industries and generating fresh growth opportunities, government officials and business executives said on Thursday.
Speaking at a business conference ahead of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which will be held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Friday and Saturday, Li Chenggang, China international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce, said the nation will continue easing market access beyond the negative list for foreign investors.
The negative list outlines the specific industries in which foreign investors are either restricted or prohibited to operate.
Li, who is also the vice-minister of commerce, said that China expects all parties attending the meeting in Suzhou to engage in in-depth discussions on advancing regional economic integration, supporting the multilateral trading system, strengthening digital cooperation and promoting green economic development.
To create a more attractive investment environment for multinational companies, China will further expand its opening-up in service-related industries, such as telecommunications, healthcare and education, while also promoting the orderly opening-up of the internet and cultural sectors, he added.
According to information released in March by the National Development and Reform Commission, China has dynamically updated its negative list for foreign investment access, with the reduction of special management measures in the services sector becoming a major priority.
The nation has also increased platforms for expanding services opening-up. To date, the number of comprehensive pilot areas established for expanding the opening-up of the services sector has reached 20.
Henry Ding, senior vice-president of 3M, said the United States-based industrial conglomerate will further scale up local research and development investment this year, and it is targeting more than 30 percent growth in new product launches compared with 2025 — a pace significantly higher than in most other global markets.
"These investments help us respond faster to market upgrades, shorten innovation cycles and build a complete local industrial chain from research to testing and manufacturing. This establishes a solid foundation for our stable and long-term growth in China," said Ding, who is also a director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.
Rob Iuppa, chief financial officer of Technimark LLC, a US manufacturer of high-value packaging products for the healthcare, consumer and industrial sectors, said the company expects its investment in China this year "to exceed the level of any of the past three years".
"As long as our customers continue to grow in China, we will continue increasing our investment in the country," he said.
Lee Hyuk-joon, president for China at Hyundai Motor Group, said that China's rapid development in sectors such as new energy vehicles, intelligent connected vehicles and digital technologies aligns closely with the group's global transformation strategy.
The South Korean automaker plans to deepen cooperation with Suzhou in areas including smart mobility, R&D, supply-chain integration and green technologies, while expanding collaboration with Chinese partners and increasing its participation in China's industrial upgrading.
Mirroring this momentum, high-tech industries accounted for 32.3 percent of foreign direct investment in China in 2025, with inflows into sectors including e-commerce services, medical equipment manufacturing and aerospace posting strong growth, while returns for foreign-invested companies remained stable, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.
According to the ministry, foreign-funded companies account for one-third of China's foreign trade, one-quarter of industrial output value and one-seventh of tax revenue, and they support more than 30 million jobs.
