Tech boom boosts MNCs in China mkt

China will continue to be a key center of exports, innovation and manufacturing for multinational companies despite uncertainty in the global economic and trade landscape, said executives of foreign companies.

They said foreign businesses are deepening their presence in China, leveraging advanced technologies in tandem with the country's mature industrial ecosystem and extensive supply chain networks — a combination that boosts efficiency, drives innovation and reinforces supply chain robustness.

Foreign-invested companies recorded a foreign trade value of 7.46 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion) in the first seven months of 2025, up 2.6 percent year-on-year and accounting for 29 percent of China's total foreign trade. Meanwhile, their exports reached 4.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9 percent on a yearly basis, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Wang Xiaohong, a researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, said that due to its mix of cost efficiency, product quality and modern infrastructure, China's industrial ecosystem is becoming a dynamic hub for joint innovation, enabling multinationals to recruit local talent and work closely with local partners to develop and grow together.

Chiron Machine Tools (Taicang) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Germany's Chiron Group and a manufacturer of numerical control machine tools in Taicang, Jiangsu province, said its business in China has grown by 300 percent over the past decade.

With China entering a new era of green and innovation-driven growth, the German manufacturer has expanded its reach beyond the domestic market in recent years, shipping products to destinations including Poland, Vietnam and Thailand.

"This shift has been underpinned by our engineering team's independent development of a linear motor-driven machine tool designed for new energy vehicle component processing in China," said Wang Jian, the company's director of operations.

Wang said that the new model delivers significantly higher productivity than conventional machines, while its automotive structural parts cutting technology boosts processing efficiency by 40 percent.

Driven by localized innovation, Chiron Machine Tools (Taicang)'s foreign trade value soared 100 percent year-on-year to 13 million yuan during the January-July period, data from Nanjing Customs showed.

Conti (Ningbo) Electrical Equipment Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Italy's Conti Valerio Srl and a manufacturer of high-end coffee grinders in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has introduced and localized several patented technologies from its parent company.

"These technologies include silent grinding, stepless micrometric adjustment and anti-clumping systems. They can enable baristas and consumers to enjoy a more efficient and consistent grinding experience," said Ye Fangbin, the company's president.

In addition to supplying products to the domestic market, Conti (Ningbo)'s export value exceeded 15 million yuan between January and July, up 33.7 percent year-on-year, with exports to Southeast Asian markets reaching nearly 6 million yuan, an increase of 64.9 percent from the same period last year, according to Ningbo Customs.

"As China has advanced its infrastructure and industrial systems, it has retained its role as a low-cost production hub while evolving into a hub for sophisticated, high-value manufacturing, allowing foreign companies to adopt more advanced production processes," said Peng Bo, a researcher specializing in international economic cooperation at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.

Global investment is increasingly targeting customized innovation, supply chain optimization, high-end manufacturing, and digital and green solutions in China now, said Peng.

Foreign direct investment in China's manufacturing sector amounted to 109.06 billion yuan in the first half, while high-tech industries attracted 127.87 billion yuan. FDI inflows from Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany rose by 68.6 percent, 59.1 percent, 37.6 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Amid China's rapid growth in artificial intelligence and computing capacity, US materials science company Corning plans to localize the production of high-end optical fibers in Shanghai.

The move aims to meet surging demand for denser, faster data transmission in AI data centers, where fiber specifications far exceed those of conventional facilities, said Lin Chunmei, president and general manager of Corning China.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn