Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian

"When it comes to whether closer cooperation with China represents an opportunity or a risk, market entities - the businesses themselves - are best positioned to judge. Whether to resort to protectionism or to embrace competition and pursue innovation-driven development, companies have made their choice through concrete actions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

Lin made the remarks in response to a question at a regular press briefing saying that a recent survey released by the US-China Business Council showed that 80 percent of surveyed US companies operating in China consider the Chinese market to be "somewhat to very important" for staying globally competitive. The question also mentioned that earlier, the German Chamber of Commerce in China's innovation survey also showed that German automakers have significantly increased the proportion of R&D conducted locally in China to accelerate innovation and cut costs. This suggests that narratives promoted at the political level - such as "de-risking" from China and "unfair competition" - seem to have limited impact on foreign companies' decision-making.

China's complete industrial system, rich application scenarios, pool of high-caliber talent, and continuously improving policy environment provide fertile ground for innovation for companies from around the world. An increasing more number of foreign enterprises are choosing to conduct research and development (R&D) in China, upgrading their manufacturing bases in China into sources of original innovation, and tempering and strengthening their international competitiveness in the "gym" of China's vast market, Lin said.

China will remain steadfast in advancing high-level opening-up and will provide more support and facilitation for foreign enterprises to "create in China," Lin said.