Jing'an foreign businesses optimistic of the market

Foreign businesses in Jing’an District remain positive towards the Chinese market despite the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The district is home to more than 80 regional headquarters of multinational companies, who contribute nearly 55 percent of the district’s tax revenues.

So far, foreign businesses in Jing’an have donated 125 million yuan (US$18 million) in cash and goods for aid to Wuhan and other parts of China. Instead of withdrawing from the domestic market, they remain positive and many of them plan to increase local investment.

Germany's TÜV Rheinland is an industry leader in providing testing, inspection and certification services. Its office in Jing’an has just been recognized as its regional headquarters.

Lutz Frankholz, director of the company’s China branch, said the company will increase its investment in Shanghai. Under the plan, it will build the first third-party intelligent unmanned lab and virtual reality testing lab, he told Jing’an officials during a meeting.

Biopharmaceutical company Pfizer opened the global headquarters for its Pfizer Upjohn unit in Jing’an last year. This month, Pfizer Upjohn’s two new drugs, REVATIO used to treat pulmonary hypertension and VYNDAQEL used to stabilize transthyretin, were approved by the National Medical Products Administration to be sold in China.

Essential oil company doTERRA and beauty giant L‘Oreal said they are preparing for the third China International Import Expo, and hoping to bring more new ethnologies and products for the Chinese consumers.

L'Oreal China has more than 12,000 employees across the country. Currently, its headquarters at the Park Place has only partly reopened, and more than 70 percent operation in its Suzhou factory has resumed.

“We have tried our best to ensure every frontline worker, especially salespeople, have enough masks. We’re glad to have no confirmed cases,” the company’s vice president Lan Zhenzhen said.

She confirmed the impact of the virus on offline sales. But she said the online sales or personal care and beauty products for this month had increased compared to February 2019. She attributed it to holiday sales.

“We’ve seen great sales on Valentine’s Day. We are expecting the next big leap on Women’s Day on March 8,” she said.

Owen Masseick, president of doTERRA China, also said that online sales were positive.

“We do feel the impact,” he said and pointed out that international shipping was a major problem. “But we’re confident in the future of China and we are looking forward to the full resumption of the business,” he added.

Kohler China, which owns more than 10 factories in China, said it will never cut jobs during the epidemic; instead, it will offer to help franchisees to get over their hard times. The company even spotted business opportunities for its contactless products.

Philips China has made the same promise. It has made great contributions to the anti-virus campaign by supplying medical devices to hospitals in Wuhan, including the makeshift hospital of Leishenshan.