Foreign investment in China increases, alongside surge in confidence
Researchers at work in the Shanghai R&D center of Klueber in Qingpu District
Foreign-funded enterprises are eying big plans and innovations in the Chinese market for 2023 with confidence in its long-term potential.
The Freudenberg Group, a global technology company headquartered in Weinheim, Germany, announced on Thursday it would increase its long-term investment in China.
Klueber, a lubrication expert affiliated to Freudenberg Chemical Specialties, planned to increase investment in its Shanghai R&D center in Qingpu District this year, and would continue to invest millions of euros in capacity expansion from 2026 to 2029.
China has been the third-largest market for the group. It is part of the company's long-term strategy to invest in manufacturing infrastructure and local R&D facilities in China.
NOK-Freudenberg (China) is expected to invest 200 million yuan (US$29.25 million) in its Wuxi plant this year, as well as a renovation project with an annual capacity of 750 million auto parts and accessories.
The Freudenberg Sealing Technologies' new accumulator plant in Changchun, Jilin Province, would be put into operation this year and planned to introduce a diaphragm accumulator product line to enhance its production and service capabilities for customers in the automotive, wind power, construction machinery and hydraulics industries.
Klueber's plant in Qingpu.
"As China opens wider to the outside world and continues to optimize its business environment, we are optimistic about the long-term potentials of the market," said Esther Maria Loidl, a member of the Board of Management and Chief Human Resources Officer at Freudenberg.
In 2022, Freudenberg reported sales of more than 11.7 billion euros (US$12.9 billion), a year-on-year increase of 17 percent.
Shanghai recently launched two comprehensive sets of 41 policies and measures to boost international trade and investment.
The goal was to build on the positive trend of stabilizing and improving foreign trade and investment while also actively responding to the various challenges posed by the complex external environment.
In 2022, the city achieved historic highs in the scale of goods imports and exports as well as actual foreign investment, with total foreign trade volume reaching 4.19 trillion yuan, up 3.2 percent from the previous year.
