China seen as global investment stabilizer

Liu Dianxun, director-general of the China Investment Promotion Agency under the ministry, said China's promotion of the "dual-circulation" development pattern, which is centered on the domestic economy and aimed at better integrating the domestic economy with the global economy, will not only benefit the Chinese economy, but also create more growth opportunities for countries across the world.

French industrial conglomerate Saint-Gobain SA plans to further enhance its market presence in Central China and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in order to get closer and have better access to fast-growing regional markets over the next five years.

Many opportunities come from surging demand in those regions for greener building materials, automobile glass, high-end chemicals, plastics and other industrial goods to accelerate their urbanization, as well as the development of smart cities and infrastructure projects, said Javier Gimeno, Saint-Gobain's senior vice-president.

With China's auto market maintaining recovery momentum over the past few months, the French group will start operations at a new automotive glass plant in partnership with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co in Meizhou, Guangdong province, in the second quarter of 2021.

"Even though COVID-19 has added a number of unstable factors to the global economy, we were able to witness China's quick recovery from the pandemic and the great resilience of its people, which makes us more confident about this market," said Zheng Dazhi, Asia-Pacific president of Bosch Thermotechnology, a German manufacturer of energy-efficient heating and hot water products.