Looking back at 2025, China's opening-up to the outside world has been steadily advancing. This year, foreign investment has firmly rooted itself in China, the spillover effects of exhibition economy continue to be released, R&D in China empowers global development of enterprises, and the consumer market bursts with strong vitality... From policy support to scenario innovation, from industrial synergy to enhancing convenience, China has opened its arms with a more inclusive attitude, becoming a "stable source" for promoting the world economy and a "gravitational field" for sharing development opportunities. By the first 11 months of 2025, 61207 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established in China, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%; In November, 7425 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%. The investment destination is China. This is the firm choice of many foreign companies. At the beginning of the year, the Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment in 2025 was released to the public. We will take practical measures such as expanding pilot programs for opening up in telecommunications, healthcare, education, and other fields, guiding more high-quality foreign investment to invest in listed companies in China in the long term, and carefully designing and implementing a series of 'Invest in China' activities, focusing on increasing investment attraction and stabilizing capital, and creating a favorable environment for foreign investment in China. At the end of the year, the "Catalogue of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment (2025 Edition)" was officially released. Continuously encourage and guide foreign investment in advanced manufacturing industries, actively encourage and guide foreign investment in modern service industries, and strengthen the guidance of more foreign investment in central and western regions, Northeast China and other areas - this catalog revision highlights the key points and clarifies the direction. The heavyweight policy of "one head, one tail" in 2025 demonstrates China's sincerity and determination to welcome foreign investment in China. Foreign companies have responded enthusiastically to this. According to a survey report released by the German Chamber of Commerce in China, 92% of the surveyed German companies are willing to continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market, and more than half of the surveyed German companies plan to increase their investment in China in the next two years. The 2025 China Business Environment Survey Report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China shows that nearly half of its member companies still list China as one of the top three investment destinations in the world. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce, there will be 61207 newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China in the first 11 months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%; In November, 7425 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%. China builds nests and attracts phoenixes, as evidenced by corporate actions. In 2025, a batch of large-scale foreign investment projects will land in China: BMW invested 15 billion yuan to mass produce new car models at its Lida factory in Shenyang, Liaoning; The full value chain super factory project of Phoenix Contact China's second base with a total investment of 1 billion yuan started construction in Nanjing, Jiangsu in June; Siemens Healthineers has invested over 1 billion yuan in Shenzhen, Guangdong to build a new base... These foreign-funded projects have distinct characteristics of intelligence, greenness, and high-end, reflecting the continuous optimization of China's investment structure. Improve investment convenience and continuously upgrade services. At the end of 2025, the "Local Tour of Foreign funded Enterprises" will reach its final destination of the year - Fujian Tour. Nearly 40 foreign business associations and heads of foreign-funded enterprises from 14 countries and regions conducted government enterprise dialogues, investment talks, and industry inspections in Fuzhou, Ningde, and other places. The "Local Tour of Foreign funded Enterprises" is a brand activity of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade to serve foreign funded enterprises and promote regional coordinated development. Yang Fan, spokesman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that in 2025, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade held five "local trips of foreign-funded enterprises", including "Guangdong trips", "Longjiang trips", "Shanxi trips", "Xizang trips", and "Fujian trips". 259 foreign business associations and foreign-funded enterprises from 21 countries and regions participated in the activities, and government departments of relevant provinces and regions responded to more than 200 demands of foreign-funded enterprises on the spot. Face to face communication, practical solutions, and the active attempt of "local visits by foreign-funded enterprises" are vivid examples of China's firm commitment to opening up to the outside world and continuous attraction of foreign investment. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, stated that China is the world's second-largest consumer goods market, with the largest middle-income group and enormous investment and consumption potential. China is committed to high-quality development, accelerating the transformation towards green, digital, and intelligent industries, and has strong industrial supporting capabilities. It is the best application scenario for the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. China has always been an ideal, safe, and promising investment destination for foreign investors. "Exhibitions at China Consumer Expo, Canton Fair, Chain Expo, China International Fair for Trade in Services, and China International Import Expo continue to gain popularity, attracting global enterprises to participate, negotiate, and cooperate with record breaking transaction volumes! Not long ago, the 8th China International Import Expo successfully concluded, and this global economic and trade event once again saw active transactions - the intended transaction volume reached 83.49 billion US dollars per year, an increase of 4.4% compared to the previous edition, setting a new historical high. As of 2025, as an important platform for China's opening up to the outside world, the CIIE has been held for eight consecutive sessions, with new events held every year. Why does the popularity of CIIE only increase and not decrease? At the 8th CIIE, a Kenyan importer and exporter gave a concise and powerful answer: "I'm here to find business." China takes the stage, and the world sings. In 2025, China will continue to promote the smooth hosting of major exhibition platforms, building a bridge for communication, cooperation, and win-win development for domestic and foreign enterprises. This year, the scale of various exhibitions has increased. In Guangzhou, Guangdong, the 138th Canton Fair was successfully held, with over 310000 overseas buyers from 223 countries and regions attending, an increase of 7.5% compared to the previous edition, setting a new historical high; In Beijing, more than 480 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders participated in the China International Fair for Trade in Services offline, accounting for over 1/4 of the exhibitors. The number and proportion of top companies exceeded the previous edition. This year, there have been more innovative elements in the exhibition. At the 3rd China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo, the "Chain Expo Launch Station" activity area was established for the first time. Here, there are various new products, technologies, processes, and scenarios, including the industry's first silicon negative electrode dedicated graphite material, a new generation of technology solutions for water treatment sub sectors, and the world's first new national standard Tunergy solar electric vehicle. Behind the successful implementation of innovative achievements one by one, lies China's complete supply chain and rapid and agile response capabilities, which release tremendous gravitational force to global enterprises. This year, the exhibition continued to reveal new market trends. The 5th China International Consumer Goods Expo has set up a new product release area and launched the "Global New Product Plan", featuring 20 release entities and 40 brands from China, the UK, Switzerland, France, Canada, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Norway and other countries, showcasing nearly a hundred series of products and the latest items. New products, not only exhibited for the first time within a few days of the conference, but also entered the international perspective through the open platform built in China, which is expected to lead the consumer trend and create win-win opportunities. Looking back on this year, the popularity of exhibitions continues to rise. The hot exhibitions and fairs gather people, logistics, and information flows, effectively driving the growth of trade, investment, and consumption; The achievement of cooperation intentions and the continuation of spillover effects have demonstrated to the world the unlimited potential and strong resilience of the Chinese economy. Research in China is becoming a "source of innovation", and more and more multinational companies are landing their global R&D centers in China. For French company L'Oreal, this year is a special year - L'Oreal China R&D and Innovation Center celebrates its 20th birthday. This research and innovation center has been rooted in China for 20 years, developing approximately 300 new formulas every year to meet the constantly changing market demands. Andy Su, a French company, has established a global research and development center in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Sifabin, Deputy General Manager of Blue Star Andy Su Co., Ltd., said, "Many of our innovative solutions come from our R&D team in China and are promoted to the global market."... From "world factory" to "innovation highland," today's China has already achieved a transformation from "technology import side" to "innovation source. Nowadays, more and more multinational companies are establishing their global R&D centers in China to serve their global layout. What is the charm of studying in China? Market driven innovation is the fundamental driving force for many multinational corporations. Hu Bohan, Senior Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Bosch Home Appliances Group in Greater China, said that the Chinese market is huge, highly diversified, and the demand for product upgrades is constantly increasing, forcing companies to focus on increasing investment and improving innovation levels based on consumer demand. Ecological gathering of talents is an important guarantee for multinational enterprises to study in China. Data shows that in 2024, China's total R&D investment will exceed 3.6 trillion yuan, with a R&D investment intensity of 2.68%, exceeding the average level of EU countries. China's total R&D personnel will rank first in the world. China has a large number of scientific research talents and strong adaptability. No matter how the external environment changes, we can always find solutions here, "said Sifabin. The policy encourages cooperation and injects confidence into multinational enterprises to strengthen their research and development in China. The "Multinational Companies in China" released by the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce shows that since the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the "Several Measures to Further Encourage Foreign Investment to Establish R&D Centers", foreign investment has continued to increase its pace of establishing R&D centers in China. Multinational corporations are accelerating the establishment of research and development centers to add momentum to the development of new quality productivity. According to statistics, by May 2025, the cumulative number of foreign-funded R&D centers in Shanghai will reach 603; In 2024, there will be over 110 newly recognized foreign-funded research and development centers in Beijing. As of January 2025, the number of foreign-funded research and development centers will reach 221, achieving exponential growth. The foreign-funded R&D center has made positive contributions to China's introduction of international cutting-edge technology and high-end talents, as well as the improvement of industrial technology level and technological innovation capability. It has also effectively promoted the rapid development of the global industrial chain innovation chain. ”The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce stated that China will support the development of foreign-funded research and development centers with greater efforts and more practical measures. Encourage and guide the layout and construction of more foreign-funded research and development centers in innovation highlands such as Beijing, Shanghai, the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, Chengdu Chongqing, Wuhan, and Xi'an. In recent days, Guillaume Goetz from France has ended his trip to China, where he has become the first choice for many overseas consumers to shop and enjoy exquisite cuisine. On his last stop in China, he arrived in Hainan and bought several boxes of Chinese tea from a duty-free shop as souvenirs for his family and friends. I didn't expect shopping in Hainan to be so convenient, as you can directly purchase tax-free, "he said. On December 18th, Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched the island wide lockdown. Starting from that day, the scope of "zero tariff" goods has expanded to over 6600 tax items, and the trend of duty-free shopping on outlying islands continues to heat up. According to statistics from Haikou Customs, from December 18th to 24th, Haikou Customs supervised a total of 1.1 billion yuan in duty-free shopping on outlying islands, 775000 items, and 165000 shoppers, an increase of 54.9%, 11.8%, and 34.1% respectively compared to the same period in 2024. With the increasing popularity of "inbound tourism" in China, it is becoming the first choice for many overseas consumers to "buy, buy". Since the beginning of this year, relevant departments have further optimized the policies and services for outbound tax refunds. By lowering the "minimum refund point" for outbound tax refunds, increasing the cash tax refund limit, relaxing store filing conditions and simplifying the filing process, and promoting the "buy and refund" policy for outbound tax refunds, they have continuously optimized the shopping experience and actively helped expand inbound consumption. From January to November this year, the number of overseas tourists who processed departure tax refunds increased by 285% year-on-year, and the sales revenue and tax refund amount of refunded goods increased by 98.8% year-on-year. In China, the joy of shopping goes far beyond tax-free consumption. In 2025, the Ministry of Commerce will launch the iconic consumer expansion campaign brand "Buy in China", focusing on areas such as boutique shopping, exquisite cuisine, and exciting tourism, innovating diversified consumption scenarios, and creating an international friendly consumption environment. “