Foreign companies swear by China market plans

QINGDAO－In the face of declining overseas orders amid the COVID-19 epidemic, engine fittings supplier Qingdao Benda had planned to give some employees a holiday, but eventually decided to have them all working as usual.

"The pandemic will come to an end sooner or later. We decided to upgrade technology and conduct staff training during this period to prepare for the post-pandemic production," said Liu Yongjiang, vice-president of Qingdao Benda.

Established in 1995, Qingdao Benda is a branch of Japan's Benda Kogyo Co Ltd in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao. It supplies its products to major global automakers such as Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen.

"We have been developing in China for 25 years and look forward to further development," Liu said.

The company resumed production on Feb 10, when 80 percent of its employees returned to their workplaces. A week later, all its 290 employees came back to work.

"The local government provided quarantine places for the employees from other provinces and commuter permits for us, so we can restore production quickly," Liu said. "We have always had a sound business environment here."

Wu Jixu, vice-president of Weihai Weidongri Comprehensive Foodstuff Co Ltd, a Japanese enterprise in the eastern Chinese city of Weihai, said: "The local bailout policies saved us 1.27 million yuan ($179,500) this year, greatly reducing our losses due to the epidemic.

"China has done a great job in the prevention and control of COVID-19," Wu said. "We also received help from the local government, such as helping us buy masks during this epidemic."

Lee Junjae, vice-president of a branch of the ROK's Chang Sung Corporation in Weihai, said: "We won't withdraw investment from China because of the epidemic or any other reasons. We are optimistic about our future development here.

"Although our investment in fixed assets hasn't increased this year, the operational investment is still rising, including the purchase of new equipment."

Meanwhile, Yoshihide Murayama, general manager of Taiho Kogyo Corporation of Yantai, a Japanese automobile parts maker, said the company will not move out of China in consideration of the transportation costs and industrial chain. "We have great potential in China, and more products will be exported from here to the world," Murayama said.

"More and more people are following us on TikTok. We believe it will become a new marketing channel for us," said Wen Xue, vice-president of Qingdao DSR Corp.