The annual event has become an important platform of dialogue for the Chinese government, global businesses, academia, and international organizations.
Dozens of foreign CEOs have attended the China Development Forum in Beijing on Mar. 23 and 24, as Beijing is keen to attract foreign investment and try to boost domestic consumption.
Let’s see what CEOs say about China.
Surprises With Innovations
Roland Busch, president, and CEO of Siemens AG, highlighted that growth from high-tech, growth by higher efficiency, and high-quality growth are the main driving forces for China’s economic transformation, aligning with the country’s focus on new quality productive forces.
Besides, he applauded China’s rapid advancements in AI, including breakthroughs like the open-source foundational model R1 by DeepSeek, as evidence of how “China surprises us with innovations.”
With over 150 years of operations in China, Siemens has positioned itself as a catalyst for industrial modernization. “Siemens is here to support. Siemens is here to stay,” Busch declared, reaffirming long-term commitments to China’s innovation ecosystem.
Investment Highlights Confidence
Before the forum, British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca signed a landmark 2.5-billion-U.S. dollar agreement to invest in Beijing over the next five years. It is the largest single investment in Beijing’s biopharmaceutical sector in recent years.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will establish a global strategic R&D center in Beijing. It will be the sixth worldwide and second in China after one in Shanghai. The new center, equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence and data science laboratory, will accelerate early-stage drug research and clinical development.
“The investment highlights our confidence in Beijing’s world-class life sciences innovation ecosystem, extensive collaborative opportunities, and exceptional talent pool,” AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said to the media.
No Winners In A Tariff War
BMW is committed to expanding its investment in China and accelerating the localization of production as well as research and development, said Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, in a meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
Zipse also noted that there are only losers and no winners in a tariff war. The company firmly opposes the EU imposing additional tariffs on Chinese EVs and hopes that both the EU and China can properly resolve their differences, he said.
At the symposium, Zipse said BMW is partnering with Chinese tech leaders to integrate generative AI and large language models into its vehicles.
Written by Yetao Gu, additional reporting by Xinhua, people.cn, and Reuters.
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