By Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo
BEIJING (Reuters) – Iron ore miner Vale, a Chinese commercial partner since the 1970s, is welcome, along with other Brazilian firms, to further expand economic links with China, its commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
The comments came as chief executives of foreign firms gathered in Beijing this week for a key annual corporate forum and China mounted a charm offensive to woo foreign investment.
Vale has seen China turn into a global manufacturing powerhouse since receiving its first iron ore cargo in 1973, but the country’s pivot to a more consumption-driven economy requires it to woo new foreign investors in emerging sectors.
“China welcomes Brazilian companies, including Vale, to continue to deepen trade and investment cooperation,” Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen told the company’s chief executive, Gustavo Pimenta, in Beijing.
China was also welcoming Vale to participate in opportunities in the domestic market, the commerce ministry added in its statement on Thursday.
In a “special action plan” unveiled last week to boost consumption, Beijing pledged to further open its service sector to foreign capital, encouraging ventures in areas ranging from bed and breakfast offerings to property services.
“As consumption in China grows, if our household consumption relative to annual economic output is to rise to 50%, or even higher, from 40%, services consumption must play a big role,” said Tang Yao, an economics professor at Peking University.
“(We) should encourage foreign investment to enter the services industry,” added Tang, who teaches at the university’s Guanghua School of Management.
As it grapples with the problems of an ageing population, Beijing also seeks investment in healthcare.
A 500-bed hospital wholly owned by a Singapore company began operations late in February in the northern city of Tianjin, marking a first for China’s healthcare sector.
Three wholly foreign-owned hospitals have been approved, with 13 foreign-owned companies cleared to provide value-added telecom services, while over 40 foreign firms have launched biotech projects, a ministry spokesperson told reporters.
Foreign companies are welcome to take a share in the dividends of China’s development, a foreign ministry official told a regular news conference on Thursday.
At the same time, some foreign businesses need to brace themselves for fierce competition from Chinese rivals.
On a trip to the southwestern province of Yunnan on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping was asked to try some local coffee.
“Yunnan coffee after all represents China, and is also popular overseas now,” Xi said.
He was acknowledging China’s emerging coffee industry as foreign brands such as Starbucks struggle to defend their market share against domestic rivals such as Luckin that are rolling out cheaper cappuccinos and menus with a greater local flavour.
(This story has been refiled to fix typos in paragraph 2)
(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Ellen Zhang and Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Clarence Fernandez)
