European multinational companies are optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese market
Latest News: A number of multinational companies headquartered in Europe have recently released their first-half financial reports, showing that their revenue has achieved positive growth, especially in the Chinese market. Sun Xiao, Secretary-General of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said that European multinational companies continue to be optimistic about the Chinese market, and the resilience of China’s economic development and the large domestic market remain attractive to multinational companies.
In the first half of this year, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) conducted a survey on the business environment for foreign investors, and received responses from nearly 160 European multinational companies. According to the survey, in the first half of the year, among the surveyed companies, 19% of European companies in China expanded their existing production business scale, 65% maintained their production business scale, and 15% reduced their production business scale. Less than 1% of businesses closed their existing production operations.
The Chinese market has become a bright spot in the semi-annual reports of many European multinational companies. German chemical giant BASF achieved a turnover of 6.17 billion euros in Greater China in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%. Reckitt Benckiser, a British fast-moving consumer goods company, said that the strong growth of the Chinese market has driven the sales growth of some disinfection products, and the sales of vitamins, minerals and supplements have also performed well in the Chinese market. French beauty giant L’Oreal saw particularly strong sales growth in emerging markets in the first half of the year, with North Asia, where China is located, increasing by 10.5% year-on-year. French food company Danone’s financial report for the first half of the year showed that sales revenue was 13.3 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%. In the second quarter, the infant formula business in the Chinese market achieved rapid growth.
Regarding the future development plans of European companies in China, Sun Xiao said that it is understood that most European multinational companies are full of confidence in the prospects of the Chinese market. For example, in June, Airbus China R&D Center settled in Suzhou Industrial Park. In July, BASF Europe decided to build an integrated base project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong.
The prospects for China-EU economic cooperation remain broad. In the first seven months of this year, the EU was China’s second largest trading partner. The total trade volume between China and Europe was 3.23 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.9%, accounting for 13.7% of China’s total foreign trade. China’s exports to the EU were 2.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.7%, and its trade surplus with the EU was 1.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 71.7%. In the first half of the year, EU investment in China increased by 15% year-on-year, and European companies such as BMW, Audi and Airbus continued to expand their business in China.