On March 4, the construction of Japanese electric motor manufacturer Nidec Corp's new plant began in Jinpu New Area of Dalian, Liaoning Province.

In 2019, the company said it would invest 50 billion yen (about 488 million U.S. dollars) in the new plant, but in February, amid the coronavirus outbreak, it announced it would double the figure.

According to Igarashi Kazutsugu, general manager of Nidec (Dalian) Ltd., China attaches great importance to the development of the new-energy vehicle industry, and the company is confident about the industry's future development in China.

"Since the outbreak, we have seen the excellent governance capability of the Chinese government," said Igarashi Kazutsugu. "The country has struck a balance between epidemic prevention and production resumption to minimize the impact of the epidemic on foreign companies."

"We have faith in the local government and are very confident in our investment," added Igarashi Kazutsugu.

In Jinpu New Area, as of February, over 92 percent of foreign-funded enterprises above designated size had resumed production, helping stabilize global supply chains.

Meanwhile, in east China's Shandong Province, agreements were signed on Feb. 25 through video conferences for 66 foreign investment projects with a total investment of nearly 14.4 billion U.S. dollars.

In north China's Shaanxi Province, according to Samsung China Semiconductor Co., Ltd., the first phase of its chip plant, with a total investment of 10 billion U.S. dollars, achieved full capacity of 130,000 memory chips per month in January and February.

According to Hyunki Ji, vice president of Samsung China Semiconductor, in order to ensure normal production and supply chain security, local governments helped Samsung contact upstream and downstream enterprises to ensure the transportation and supply of key raw materials.

They also set up a special team to offer 24-hour service for the company to help solve transportation, logistics and manpower problems.

"Thanks to the efforts of local governments, we didn't even suspend production during the Spring Festival holiday," said Ji.

Foxconn, the world's leading contract electronics maker, is also gradually resuming production capacity at its major manufacturing base in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province.

Its production in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone had been slowed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in January, affecting the international supply chain.

With help from the local authorities, Foxconn's Zhengzhou production base, which had only 1,800 employees left behind during the Spring Festival at the end of January, now has around 80,000 people hard at work, approaching the level at the same period in previous years.

"The epidemic will affect our production in the first quarter, but the impact on annual production will be limited," said Peng Jinhai, with the Zhengzhou branch of Lianchuang Electronic Component (Group) Co., Ltd.

In January, China's foreign investment law went into effect. Approved by the national legislature in March 2019, the landmark legislation will provide stronger protection and a better business environment for overseas investors.

While carrying out effective epidemic prevention and control measures, Chinese authorities are also putting this law in place to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors at such a difficult time, Zhang the chief researcher said.

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