China base for global corporate investment

Editor's Note: As China launches its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), policymakers are strengthening coordination between the "Export to China" and "Shopping in China" campaigns. The effort signals a clear commitment to expanding imports while promoting high-quality consumption. To explore what this means for global business, we invited executives from multinational corporations to share their perspectives on the opportunities in China's vast market, the role of their China operations in global strategy, and their outlook for the years ahead.

Q1: China's GDP grew 5 percent in 2025, reaching 140.19 trillion yuan ($20.29 trillion). For 2026, the government targets growth of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent, with a planned deficit ratio of around 4 percent. How do you assess the credibility and policies backing this target? Amid moderating global demand, what does China's relative growth certainty mean for your company's global capital allocation, earnings outlook and investor expectations? Does the combination of proactive fiscal policies and accommodative monetary measures reinforce your confidence in sustaining or expanding operations in China?

Yang: Agilent and the analytical instrument industry are deeply intertwined with China's macroeconomic landscape, particularly the high-quality development of its manufacturing sector. We view the 2026 growth target as both steady and pragmatic, and the proactive fiscal policy will also provide important support for achieving it. China is Agilent's second-largest global market. While the current macro environment presents complexities, the market's immense scale, consistent analytical demand, and ongoing industrial upgrades reinforce our unwavering view of China as a cornerstone of our global business and a destination for long-term investment.

Zhao: China's 2026 growth target of 4.5 percent to 5 percent, backed by proactive fiscal and accommodative monetary policies, underscores the government's commitment to high-quality development despite global uncertainties. As the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market, China benefits from aging-driven healthcare demand and supportive policies, creating a stable environment for innovation. For multinational companies like Astellas, the rise of local innovation presents new opportunities for collaboration, ultimately accelerating the delivery of valuable innovative drugs to patients worldwide. China is now one of Astellas' most important markets, with headquarters prioritizing resources to accelerate patient access to innovations. Astellas China's revenue surged 33.3 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of financial year 2025.

An: China's economy has continued to make steady and resilient progress despite a complex global environment, providing a solid foundation for long-term investment and innovation. This year's Government Work Report underscores further high-level opening-up and the acceleration of new growth drivers — from the shift toward high-end, intelligent, and green manufacturing to the expansion and upgrading of the consumer market — offering Henkel ample opportunities across both industrial and consumer businesses. The national priorities of high-quality development, new quality productive forces and green transition align closely with Henkel's strategic direction. We remain confident in the long-term prospects of the Chinese market and will continue investing in local innovation, manufacturing and talent development.

Poon: We are pleased to hear that China has set a target for stable growth in 2026, which underscores the economy's resilience and long-term potential. It's a clear reflection of the country's commitment to high-quality, sustainable development. The 2026 Government Work Report focuses on fostering emerging pillar industries like ICs, the low-altitude economy, advancing new energy and new-type energy storage as well as new energy vehicles. It further aims at nurturing future industries such as humanoid robotics and 6G, and building new forms of smart economy including hyper-scale intelligent computing clusters and power computing coordination infrastructure. This aligns perfectly with Infineon's product offering.