BEIJING -- "The Chinese market is one of the most important markets to Procter & Gamble in our global development range," Shannan Stevenson, P&G's President-Greater China, said in an interview with Xinhua.
Earlier this month, the company started construction on its 10th plant in China, which will be one of P&G's largest production bases in Asia upon its completion.
Stevenson said the plant not only marks P&G's commitment to providing the Chinese market with better products, but it is also part of the company's plan to invest at least $1 billion in the Chinese market by 2015.
P&G's choice may be representative.
According to the American Business in China White Paper 2011 released in late April by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham-China), this year's Business Climate Survey shows that all 434 members of AmCham-China have been performing well in China, with business having returned to pre-financial crisis levels.
Of the 434 survey respondents, 85 percent reported revenue growth in 2010, and 78 percent reported being either profitable or very profitable.
The Business Climate Survey also shows increased optimism about China's economic growth prospects and the potential of the Chinese market, said AmCham-China Chairman Ted Dean.
Members also reported growing concerns about certain regulatory trends, and, for the first time, they rated bureaucracy as their top business challenge, according to the White Paper.
Dean said this is the result of many US companies trying to turn China into a kind of hometown or base, so they have higher expectations for economic policies.
China, meanwhile, will be actively changing its economic growth mode during its 12th Five Year Plan (2011 to 2015), Dean said. China will focus more on domestic demand and consumption during this time, creating more of an opportunity than a challenge for US companies in China.
Many US companies have already expressed a willingness to participate in China's reform process and they are willing to provide products and services to China's growing domestic market, said Dean
Wang Zhile, director of the Research Center of Transnational Corporation of the Ministry of Commerce, said China's overall foreign investment environment is promising, as about 80 percent of US companies in China turn profits.
"But we realize that there are still problems, and the government is now trying to improve the investment environment," said Wang.
Wang suggested that both China and the US be more open and cooperative about business problems. In this way, both sides could enhance cooperation and development.
"It's in line with the trend of the times," he said.
