Economic Watch: Multinationals boost investment in China amid market optimism

JINAN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Robotic arms hum while workers move with precision through Taiho Kogyo Corporation's workshop in Yantai, east China's Shandong Province, as engine and compressor bearings roll off the production line not only for automakers like Toyota and Volkswagen but increasingly for China's thriving luxury motorcycle scene.

The Yantai-based company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiho Kogyo Co., Ltd., has been "granted full autonomy" by its Japanese headquarters to develop and produce for the Chinese market, said Junji Koshima, general manager of the subsidiary.

He added that this local decision-making allows the company to respond more quickly to demand while tapping into China's rapid growth and vast market potential.

Europe-headquartered Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a Fortune 500 global merchant and processor of agricultural goods, broke ground in late June on a 7-billion-yuan (about 981 million U.S. dollars) food technology industrial center in the port city of Qingdao.

Spanning 153,000 square meters and slated for completion in 2027, the industrial center will specialize in oilseed processing, specialty feed proteins, and food-grade phospholipids production. Once operational, it is expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes of feed protein, 370,000 tonnes of refined oil, and 15,000 tonnes of phospholipids annually, while creating approximately 200 local jobs.

Positioned as LDC's regional anchor in east China, the industrial center will closely integrate with local port logistics and feed processing industries, said James Zhou, LDC's chief commercial officer and head of the Asia region. Since entering China's cotton trade in 1973, LDC now generates roughly a quarter of its global revenue from the Chinese market.

Republic of Korea's CJ Group, a conglomerate with businesses spanning food, biotech, logistics, entertainment and retail, is also ramping up its investments. The company is expanding amino acid and food additive production in Liaocheng, Shandong, reflecting strong confidence in China's market prospects.

The global economy faces growing challenges from geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainties, while China is tackling these head-on by advancing high-standard opening up, injecting stability and momentum into global growth, said Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of CJ Group, adding that the group is pursuing deeper partnerships and new opportunities in China.

Active in China since 1994, the group has attended all six editions of the Qingdao Multinationals Summit, a platform launched in 2019 to foster policy dialogue and facilitate project cooperation.

This year's summit in June drew 570 delegates from 43 countries and regions. Data from China's Ministry of Commerce showed that 59,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in the country last year, an increase of 9.9 percent year on year. Growth continued into the first half of 2025, with 30,014 new foreign ventures added.

To speed up institutional opening up, China launched the 2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment, and revised and expanded the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment.

At PHINIA Delphi Automotive Systems (Yantai) Co., the largest Asia-Pacific investment by U.S.-based PHINIA Inc. in 30 years, automation and skilled workers drive precision manufacturing. Over the past decade, the fuel systems leader has invested more than 500 million U.S. dollars locally, building two plants and an R&D center. Local sourcing of materials has jumped from 10 percent to 90 percent, while annual sales have soared from 40 million yuan to 2 billion yuan.

Shandong is pivotal to PHINIA's global supply chain, said Simon Godwin, the company's vice president of government affairs, adding that they're boosting investments not just in traditional systems but also in clean energy. ■