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The governor of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, met with representatives of foreign companies and emphasized optimizing the investment environment and financial support. This statement contrasts with recent on-site pressure and regulatory tightening moves against American companies such as Tesla and Apple.

According to local media including China Securities Journal on the 18th, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, hosted a symposium inviting foreign financial institutions and companies and made these remarks. Representatives from JP Morgan, HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS Securities, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Tesla, BASF, Schneider, and others attended the symposium.

At the event, Governor Pan said, "Actively attracting and utilizing foreign investment is an important part of promoting a high level of openness and building an open economic system," adding, "We will improve policies and create a market-oriented business environment." Earlier, representatives of attending companies introduced the development status of their businesses in China and said, "China's financial industry has been steadily opening up in recent years," and "Moreover, foreign trade continues to improve, and we hope related policies will be enhanced and the business environment optimized."

Last month, the State Council announced plans to expand the regions for foreign companies' investment within China to inland areas and diversify foreign investment channels. Earlier in March, Premier Li Qiang emphasized to overseas business representatives, "Regardless of global environmental changes, we will firmly adhere to openness."

The fact that Premier Li, the second highest-ranking official in the country, and the governor of the People's Bank of China have stepped forward to emphasize external openness is interpreted as a response to the recent decline in foreign investment. According to the Ministry of Commerce of China, foreign direct investment (FDI) into China from January to August this year was approximately 15.4 trillion won, a 5.1% decrease compared to last year. In particular, concerns about a Chinese economic downturn have grown due to the bankruptcy risks of real estate developers such as Evergrande and Biguiyuan, creating an atmosphere where companies are reluctant to actively enter and invest. Major foreign media have described this as "a signal of new efforts by Chinese authorities to revive foreign trade and investment," forecasting that "foreign investment-friendly policies to prevent foreign capital outflow will be introduced."

Bloomberg reported, "Concerns about regulatory ambiguity and tensions with the West have made it difficult for companies to regain trust in China," adding, "According to a survey released earlier this year by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, China has fallen out of the top three investment priorities for the majority of American companies. This is the first time this has happened in about 25 years."

Some point out that these openness moves by China show limitations in practice. According to local reports, since the implementation of the revised Anti-Espionage Law, which strengthened penalties in July, controls on the American electric vehicle company Tesla have intensified.

There have been cases where Tesla vehicles were prevented from charging at public electric vehicle charging stations, and public security blocked access to elevated roads. A former public security bureau official said, "Since the strengthening of the Anti-Espionage Law, there appears to be increased vigilance toward highly automated devices like iPhones and Tesla vehicles," adding, "From the authorities' perspective, they have no choice but to strengthen control over these devices." Recently, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that a ban on iPhone use was issued to officials of central government agencies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.