Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian

"No one is better placed than enterprises, the real market players, to say whether more cooperation with China brings risks or opportunities. Whether to choose protectionism or embrace competition and pursue innovation, enterprises have let their actions speak for themselves," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

Lin made the remarks in response to a question by a reporter at a regular press briefing. The reporter noted that a recent survey released by the US-China Business Council showed that 80 percent of responding US companies considered Chinese market to be "very important" or "important" to their global competitiveness. 

The reporter also mentioned that a previous innovation report published by the German Chamber of Commerce in China also showed that the share of German automotive companies conducting research and development (R&D) in China had increased significantly in an effort to speed up innovation and save costs. This suggested that political narratives like "de-risking" from China and "unfair competition" have limited sway over foreign firms' decisions.

China's full-fledged industrial system, diverse application scenarios, high-caliber talent pool and ever-improving policy environment offer a fertile ground for global businesses to innovate. More and more foreign enterprises are opting for "R&D in China," turning their Chinese manufacturing bases into innovation hubs and using China's vast market as a "fitness club" to build up their global competitiveness, Lin said.

China will stay committed to advancing high-standard opening-up, and provide more support and facilitation for foreign enterprises to "create in China," Lin said.

The trend is also evident in real actions on the ground. During the January-April period, 20,113 new overseas-invested firms were established across the country, up 6.8 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.

Moreover, Swedish engineering and manufacturing company SKF Group relocated the world's sole largest product line R&D center for deep groove ball bearings to China, and established a global technology center and a global testing center in the country. Moreover, SKF has actively expanded its R&D team, building a high-caliber research and innovation think tank in China.

"China boasts a robust industrial foundation, a vast market space, and a consistently improving business environment. This provides foreign enterprises with solid confidence to deepen their presence in China. The country offers strong innovation capabilities, a wealth of application scenarios, and clear advantages in R&D and supply chains," Rickard Gustafson, president and CEO of SKF Group, told the Global Times.

China possesses an ultra-large market and a rich industrial ecosystem. Moreover, the Chinese market demonstrates a high degree of openness to innovation, backed by comprehensive pro-innovation policies and a complete industrial and supply chain support system. These factors combine to create an irreplaceable comprehensive competitive edge, which serves as a key reason why holders of foreign capital are accelerating their investment in China's high-tech sectors, Li Chang'an, an economist at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Moreover, in recent years, China has continuously deepened reforms in stabilizing and attracting foreign investment, which effectively anchors foreign investors' expectations and bolsters their confidence, Li said. For example, China has consistently reduced the negative list for foreign investment, relaxed market access restrictions, and improved the rule of law in the foreign-related sector, solidifying the institutional safeguards for the development of foreign-funded enterprises, he said.