Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday vowed to give equal treatment to foreign companies, reassuring hundreds of executives at the World Economic Forum that the world's second-largest economy still welcomes them.
'All enterprises registered in China according to Chinese laws are Chinese enterprises. Their products are made-in-China products,' Wen said at the WEF's Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin.
Increases in productivity have moved China higher in the WEF's Global Competitive Index, yet World Bank rankings on the ease of doing business in the country have declined this year. There have been claims Beijing is discriminating against foreign companies in areas such as state procurement.
Multinationals are concerned that as China's need for foreign capital is reduced by having the world's largest foreign reserves they may be sidelined. Meanwhile, state-owned enterprises are growing stronger especially after the global financial crisis when a considerable part of the government's stimulus efforts was directed to infrastructure and other sectors where they dominate.
Wen said the concerns of foreign companies stemmed from 'misunderstanding' and 'unclearly defined Chinese policies'.
In government procurement, China gives equal treatment to all products produced on the mainland by foreign-invested enterprises and Chinese-invested enterprises alike, he said at the forum that focuses on small, high-growth companies.
Wen promised to give high priority to intellectual property protection and encouraged foreign companies to play a big role in China's initiatives to boost domestic demand and the deepening of reforms.