Global investors bullish on long-term opportunities in China (3)

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

While the pandemic is reshaping the global economy, the Chinese market is providing an uncertain world with a large number of investment opportunities, especially in some emerging sectors, including the digital economy and carbon neutrality.

"I'd say China is such a diverse and large economy. There are really many opportunities across sectors," Margulies said.

Photo taken on Sept. 8, 2021 shows a view of the 21st China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)

China was pushing for new infrastructure construction even before the pandemic, and the infrastructure construction in areas such as data centers and digitalization has seen fast growth since then, which is an opportunity for the ABB's infrastructure business, said James Zhao, senior vice president of ABB China.

The Chinese government aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The realization of this goal can further improve the country's electrification level, said Zhao.

"Its impact on our industry is profound and we will take responsibility for providing good products and solutions to the market," Zhao added.

That sentiment was echoed by Margulies: "Carbon capture utilization and storage is definitely an area where a lot of U.S. companies are looking to developing cooperation projects with provinces and enterprises of China, and this gets to traditional energy production, petro-chemical plants. So there are a lot of ways to cooperate on carbon capture technologies; that's an area lots of companies see potential in China."

According to the World Investment Report 2021, after a severe contraction in GDP at the height of the pandemic, China reported 18.3 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2021. FDI flows in the same period surged 44 percent to 45 billion U.S. dollars. FDI in the high-tech, manufacturing and services industries is expected to remain strong, said the report.

Anand invested 10 million U.S. dollars in a new factory in India, which will start operation this December and is expected to produce two million pairs of shoes each year.

"We are also planning to expand our business in China by starting our own brand by the end of this year," said Anand. "Actually our target is to produce 20 million shoes every year in the next 10 years."

China is quite a fantastic country in terms of business opportunities, as the country has overcome the challenges of COVID-19, and China's GDP keeps growing against the backdrop of the pandemic crisis, he added.

"We have been in China for a long time, and we have a lot of support from the Chinese government," he said. "I feel there is a future in this country."