Fair sets open slate for trade

Zhang Yuzhong, deputy director of the investment promotion agency under the Ministry of Commerce, said an increasing outflow of China's overseas direct investment could help stimulate the global economy and sustain its growth momentum, even as uncertainties remain over the strength of the global recovery.

To provide financial support, China committed $50 billion in October to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with 57 countries since joining or applying to join as founding members of the bank by the end of April. The bank's long-term goal is to raise $100 billion for future projects.

The AIIB will focus on lending money for Asian infrastructure construction and to strengthen the global economic recovery. It will integrate the fiscal ability of its founder members and boost financial leverage to speed investment.

Zhang said the establishment of the AIIB and new free trade zones in China's coastal provinces will not only increase economic flexibility with countries along the Belt and Road, but also provide larger platforms to improve services and upgrade industries for pillar manufacturers in both China and abroad.

Foreign players have been consolidating their presence further by diversifying their localization strategies and establishing new research and development centers, as well as sewing up more alliances and acquisitions in China, especially in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta; Beijing and the Bohai Rim; as well as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta.

Alexandra Voss, a board member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, said as China undergoes industrial upgrading, German companies are looking to increase their investments in China's modern manufacturing sector as the country transitions to a more moderate phase of growth.