Supporting the move to high-quality growth

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab

A1 China has clearly achieved a great deal over the past 70 years. Thanks to its reform and openingup, foreign enterprises got the chance to enter the Chinese market, whereby Chinese citizens were given the opportunity to choose foreign goods in addition to domestically produced ones, and many of those foreign products and services were the best in the world - ours among them. So I guess it was a win-win situation for everyone.

Our company has been on the Chinese mainland market now for more than 15 years. It wasn't easy starting our business here; we had to adapt to the local culture and market peculiarities. Today, we see a lot of room for development for us in China and hope that our business here will grow and flourish.

A2 I think that China is a powerful engine of economic growth and will continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate. Foreign investment also helped increase knowledge and quality standards in the country. And this is great for companies like ours. We have excellent products, leading technologies and high-quality services, and thanks to the opening-up of the Chinese market they are all available to our Chinese customers. As China's growth becomes high-quality growth - that's just perfect for us: we have high-quality products and nothing else, so we will be able to continue to help China with our expertise and services.

A3 I support the direction of the draft foreign investment law in further opening-up the Chinese market to foreign businesses. The new norms on technology transfer agreements, intellectual property protection, transparent and fair rules on licensing, standardization and procurement will all further enhance the attractiveness of China as the key destination for high-tech investment and research.

A4 Without a doubt, the rise in incomes will also lead to a rise in purchasing power and a rapid proliferation of mobile and IoT devices. I hope that there will also be a rise in awareness of the threats of leaving these devices unprotected. The number of IoT devices in the world is now estimated at more than 10 billion. It's a complex market that will only grow with time - smart cities, a connected industrial sector, smart supply chains, connected buildings and transportation, smart retail, etc. That's why it's crucial to protect IoT devices and this is something that we are happy to do.

A5 Over the past five years China has created a better business environment for both domestic and foreign companies. Through a simpler approval process, technology-based services and lower corporate fees, the government is transforming its functions to let the market play a larger role in the economy. Efforts in this respect have promoted entrepreneurship and innovation and I can only welcome such an efficiency drive.