China begins roundtable meetings with foreign businesses

ISTANBUL

China on Wednesday began holding roundtable meetings with foreign businesses to address their concerns.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao convened the meeting with foreign enterprises operating in China to hear their businesses’ circumstances, challenges, and recommendations, according to a ministry statement.

Representatives from 12 companies, including Bayer, Roche, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Pfizer, along with Assistant Commerce Minister Chen Chunjiang, attended the meeting.

“Through this arrangement, Beijing aims to have regular meetings, enhance channels for feedback, address business concerns promptly, and support the long-term and stable development of foreign-funded enterprises in China,” said Wang.

In 2020, the Commerce Ministry introduced a special class for important foreign investment projects.

Over the past three years, the ministry have held 17 symposiums with various foreign-funded enterprises, addressing their concerns and providing solutions to numerous difficulties.

The roundtable meeting comes amid concerns over export controls imposed by various countries on firms, many of which operate in China.

• AstraZeneca
• Bayer
• China
• Ministry of Commerce
• Pfizer
• US
• Wang Wentao