China giving MNCs strategic forte
Q4 China has placed greater emphasis on expanding domestic demand while pursuing high-standard opening-up. How do you assess these efforts? What new opportunities do they create for multinational companies and global investors?
PRASANNAN: China's market opportunities are clear: rising dual-fuel newbuild orders, growing retrofit demand, low-carbon heating upgrades and industrial CCUS deployment. Since 2016, our methanol main engines have accumulated over 600,000 operating hours on methanol alone. In 2025, we signed a 10-year licensing agreement with CPGC and CSE, further strengthening our decades-long partnership. We also secured an EOR-based CCUS project, marking our entry into China's CCUS market. Hengli is a highly valued strategic partner. Our market-leading two-stroke portfolio and four-stroke gen-set solutions position us as a comprehensive power and propulsion provider. This year, we've also launched a four-stroke licensing partnership with Hengli and are confident it will achieve the same strong future as our successful two-stroke collaboration.
CHENG: China's continued efforts to expand domestic demand while advancing high-standard opening-up are creating a more stable, transparent and attractive environment for global businesses. We have seen particularly encouraging policy signals in areas such as financial opening, the digital economy and cross-border trade, which are strengthening multinational companies' confidence in making long-term investments in China.
Payoneer is one example of that long-term commitment. As a global financial technology company serving businesses in more than 190 countries and territories, we continue to deepen our presence in China through investment in local research and development, product innovation, compliance capabilities and ecosystem development. For multinational companies, the opportunity in China goes well beyond access to a large market. It is also about building long-term capabilities, responding to fast-evolving customer needs, and growing alongside Chinese businesses as they expand globally.
XIA: A larger and more sophisticated domestic market means that the real opportunity lies in upgrading — consumers and industries are looking for safer, greener, more efficient and higher-performance solutions. High-standard opening-up means predictability, transparency, market access and fair competition, all of which support long-term business confidence. Evonik has been present in China since the 1930s and has participated in China's economic development. In the next stage, we believe opportunities will be strongest in sectors aligned with China's high-quality development priorities: green transformation, circular economy, and low-carbon manufacturing, etc. These are also areas where specialty chemicals can make a meaningful contribution.
YIN: China's steady advancement of high-level opening-up has created a more stable and predictable operating landscape for multinationals. Meanwhile, the continuous expansion of domestic demand serves as a powerful growth engine and source of innovation momentum for foreign businesses. For multinationals like AkzoNobel, our longstanding commitment to the Chinese market underscores a strategic evolution: transitioning from mere investors to dedicated innovation partners now. We will leverage our global technological strengths and local innovation capabilities, continue to ramp up investment in the Chinese market, and collaborate closely with local partners to seize new opportunities stemming from high-quality development.
