浙侨英频 ?Multinationals express firm faith in China

发布时间：2022-04-29

 

Global companies in Shanghai work to ensure production amid lockdown

Multinational corporations in Shanghai have implemented contingency plans to maintain production as the city's authorities have introduced measures to help businesses in the city return to normal operations.

While supply chain challenges remain, most executives of multinationals said that their long-term confidence in China remains intact.

A number of global manufacturers have entered into closed-loop management in Shanghai since late March, prior to the city's lockdown, when staff members were mobilized to stay on site and their health was closely monitored.

Chemical giants such as AkzoNobel, Evonik, Suez and Clariant have adjusted their production portfolios and personnel arrangements in a bid to ensure that deliveries to clients would be minimally interrupted by the lockdown.

For German company Covestro, this translates into nearly 900 employees and contractors staying at its Caojing plant in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park and strictly following the government's anti-epidemic rules.

As of today, the company's largest site worldwide is running at a high capacity and is gradually recovering from recent weeks when logistics constraints hampered production, according to Holly Lei, Covestro senior vice-president and president of Covestro China.

As the city began to prioritize the resumption of industrial production, we also witnessed a rebound in outbound logistics, including exports, as well as the improved availability of materials as road logistics improves and work recovers at our suppliers, she said.

Since the middle of April, governments at the central and local levels have been striving to restore business operations, identifying key industries to resume operations first and outlining directives to balance out economic growth and epidemic prevention and control.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said its Gigafactory in Shanghai has resumed production at fairly high levels, boosting hopes that the electric carmaker could produce 1.5 million vehicles this year, more than 50 percent higher than its output in 2021.

Giga Shanghai is coming back with a vengeance, he told analysts during a call on April 20, following the release of Tesla's first-quarter earnings. I think we will see record output per week from Giga Shanghai this quarter, albeit missing a couple of weeks.

He predicted that second-quarter production would be roughly on par with the first three months.

Musk also forecast that production had started to resume among Tesla's suppliers, and predicted a substantially higher output in the third and fourth quarters.

Many multinationals playing the long game relish the vast market potential in China.

For instance, industrial conglomerate Honeywell said that it believed in the strong resilience of the Chinese economy and the government's unwavering pledge to high-level opening-up.

The COVID-19 pandemic will not affect our commitment to long-term development in China, said William Yu, president of Honeywell China.

With our core business perfectly aligned with China's market demand, including digitalization and sustainability, we pay close attention to developing key verticals and continue to invest in growth industries.

Meanwhile, French cosmetics group L'Oreal said that its plant in Hubei province was unaffected while its site in Suzhou, near Shanghai, was only partially impacted.

At this critical stage of the Shanghai COVID-19 epidemic and the upcoming work resumption, L'Oreal will spare no effort to overcome all difficulties together with the market, said Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oreal North Asia and CEO of L'Oreal China.

The company registered double-digit growth in the Chinese mainland in the first three months, achieving a growth rate far exceeding the average of the beauty market, said Megarbane, calling the achievement a delight.

L'Oreal's work resumption has received lots of help from the government and the local community. Their timely response has fully reflected China's friendliness and care for foreign enterprises, and the increasingly optimized business environment of the Chinese market, he added.

Other consumer enterprises such as Skechers are also unequivocal about the long-term prospects in China. The footwear-and-apparel maker is betting on the growing interest in a healthy lifestyle among consumers as a result of the pandemic and national policies bolstering the development of sports and well-being.

We are still very confident about the Chinese market, said Willie Tan, CEO of Skechers China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. He pointed to China as the cradle fostering numerous new consumption scenarios, products, and services regarding the sports and health industry.

Zheng Xin and Zhong Nan in Beijing contributed to this story.

 

【背景阅读】

“疫情不会动摇我们在中国长期发展的信心”

——长三角部分外企走访见闻

“疫情不会动摇我们在中国长期发展的信心。”——这是记者日前走访长三角地区部分外资企业多次听到的一句话。在浙江、江苏、上海等地，有大量跨国公司在华生产基地。疫情冲击下，记者采访发现，尽管外资企业生产和销售受到影响，但普遍未改长久深耕中国市场的意愿。

“产量下降，但不影响我们对中国市场的信心”

车间里机器声隆隆，流水线上不时有工人装配产品，偶尔有载着零部件的智能物流车穿过……在位于浙江台州的法雷奥温岭汽车零部件有限公司生产车间里，记者看到这样一幕。

总部位于法国的法雷奥集团是全球知名汽车零部件供应商，法雷奥温岭公司是国内雨刮片和洗涤器系统主要生产厂商之一。“今年一季度我们订单同比略有增长，尽管4月份产量有所减少，但这并没有影响法雷奥对中国市场的信心。”法雷奥温岭汽车零部件有限公司总经理吴宗文告诉记者。

信心源自中国大市场的潜力。来自德国的汽配行业“隐形冠军”斯泰必鲁斯也是看好中国市场的外企之一。

疫情下，上游供应链受冲击，下游客户需求减弱，位于嘉兴平湖经济技术开发区的斯泰必鲁斯订单也受到影响。但在公司位于平湖的生产工厂，记者看到全部机器有序运转，工人忙着组装产品。

“虽然疫情让公司短期内损失了一些产值，但我们相信疫情影响是暂时的，一旦需求恢复，订单就会慢慢回来。”斯泰必鲁斯（浙江）有限公司马云杰告诉记者。

支撑斯泰必鲁斯信心的正是来自中国汽车市场的快速发展和巨大需求。斯泰必鲁斯中国区CEO田学峰说，公司总部制定了名为“Asia Center of Gravity”（亚洲重心）的2030年战略目标，目标是未来集团的亚洲市场业务占到全球业务的30%。“当然，亚洲地区里中国市场是‘大头’，未来七八年里，中国区的业务还要再翻一番。”

“我们将继续加大对华研发、生产和销售投入”

除了大市场，中国完备的产业链、供应链也是吸引众多外资企业扎根的重要考量因素。

“我们今年准备再增资1.5亿元，扩大新能源车用逆变器生产线的产能。”见到记者时，日本电产株式会社旗下尼得科艾莱希斯电子（浙江）有限公司管理部部长谢则谨分享了公司的扩展计划。“只有把产能提上去，才能更好地服务我们的客户。”

对于尼得科艾莱希斯而言，除了广阔市场，长三角完备的上下游产业链、日本电产在当地多年布局的一体化生产优势，都是集团进一步在中国投资的考量因素。

专注于纺织机械的特吕茨施勒，是一家来自德国的百年家族企业。“我们一贯注重在中国的发展和投入，目前在中国有两个工厂，未来打算继续扩大投资。”特吕茨施勒纺织机械（嘉兴）有限公司副总经理张伟平说，“盼望疫情早日过去，嘉兴工厂二期工程能尽早推进。”

“尽管疫情反复，但我们在中国的生产和销售却相对稳定。”在位于江苏常熟的全球清洁行业知名企业德国卡赫中国总部，卡赫中国供应链总监张卫卫告诉记者，全球供应链的不稳定性让公司更加坚定了本土化战略，“我们将继续加大对华研发、生产和销售投入。”

“政府就像我们的娘家人一样”

持续优化的营商环境是吸引外资的软实力。特别是在疫情特殊时期，及时贴心的政府服务，对外资企业来说就是一场“及时雨”。

“让我印象深刻的是，即使凌晨有物流车来，政府工作人员也是24小时待机，第一时间响应解决问题，就像我们的娘家人一样。”谢则谨说，“这让我们感觉，不是一个人在战斗。”

美资企业嘉吉食品科技（平湖）有限公司负责人说，为帮助企业减轻物流不畅负担，对于来自中高风险地区的物流车，政府允许企业提前一天进行网上申请，符合相关要求后，当地专门派车全程接送物流车，形成闭环。

今年一季度，我国实际使用外资同比增长25.6%，实现平稳开局。记者了解到，一季度，浙江全省实际使用外资59.2亿美元，其中高技术产业实际使用外资占比51.4%。在苏州，新设立注册外资3000万美元以上项目同比增长超30%。

商务部新闻发言人高峰此前介绍，在畅通运输通道、组织应急物资中转等方面，中国政府积极帮助受影响企业纾困解难。接下来将进一步发挥重点外资项目工作专班作用，积极协调解决外资企业遇到的具体困难。

“霍尼韦尔深耕中国市场近90年，疫情不会动摇公司在中国长期发展的信心。”美国霍尼韦尔公司中国总裁余锋说，公司刚刚参加了第131届广交会，也将继续参加第五届进博会，“中国扩大开放的举措给企业带来新的机遇，我们在中国的业务发展将加快步伐。”

 

来源新华社