NANJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The 2026 Suzhou Global Investment Promotion Conference, held on Thursday in the eastern Chinese city, brought together senior executives from multinational corporations to discuss industrial cooperation and regional economic integration.
Held as a sideline event to the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, the conference attracted nearly 300 executives and representatives from Fortune Global 500 and China Top 500 companies through panel discussions, business dialogues and video presentations.
Organizers said the event aimed to deepen connectivity across the Asia-Pacific business community and strengthen global trade and industrial cooperation amidst changing economic and supply chain landscapes.
With more than 55 percent of attendees from foreign-funded enterprises, executives from major firms including Nike, Hyundai Motor Group and Google participated in exchanges during the event.
Henry Ding, global senior vice president of 3M, an industrial conglomerate with a 40-year presence in China, said the company is supporting China's industrial digital transformation through smart manufacturing. He cited 3M's Suzhou factory as an example, which has integrated industrial internet, Internet of Things and big data technologies and has become one of the company's key material production bases globally.
Ding said 3M plans to further expand localized production capacity and innovation investment in China to achieve mutually beneficial growth.
Xu Gang, global executive vice president of Airbus, said the Airbus China Research and Development Innovation Centre in Suzhou is providing advanced technologies and solutions in areas such as intelligent manufacturing, clean energy and embodied artificial intelligence for Airbus' global operations.
Xu added that the center will deepen collaboration with local innovation ecosystems to promote resource sharing and complementary advantages, helping advance high-quality development in the aviation industry.
Participants at the conference noted that despite sluggish foreign direct investment flows across the world, China has continued to demonstrate resilience in attracting overseas investment. Foreign investment in China is increasingly shifting from traditional manufacturing toward high-tech industries, while returns on investment have remained stable.
Data from China's Ministry of Commerce shows that foreign direct investment in China's scientific research and technical services sector accounted for nearly a fifth of the national total in 2025, with its share rising steadily for seven years.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of China's accession to APEC. The APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting is scheduled to be held in Suzhou from May 22 to 23. Enditem
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