Editor's Note: As China launches its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), policymakers are strengthening coordination between the "Export to China" and "Shopping in China" campaigns. The effort signals a clear commitment to expanding imports while promoting high-quality consumption. To explore what this means for global business, we invited executives from multinational corporations to share their perspectives on the opportunities in China's vast market, the role of their China operations in global strategy, and their outlook for the years ahead.

Q1 China's GDP grew 5 percent in 2025, reaching 140.19 trillion yuan ($20.31 trillion). For 2026, the government targets growth of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent, with a planned deficit ratio of around 4 percent. How do you assess the credibility and policies backing this target? Amid moderating global demand, what does China's relative growth certainty mean for your company's global capital allocation, earnings outlook and investor expectations? Does the combination of proactive fiscal policies and accommodative monetary measures reinforce your confidence in sustaining or expanding operations in China?

HOMMA: China achieved its 5 percent economic growth target in 2025 despite a complex and volatile external environment. It sends a clear, firm and positive signal to the world, highlighting the strong resilience and stability of the Chinese economy and further strengthening the confidence of foreign companies in pursuing long-term development in China. We are continuing to step up our investment with concrete actions. We see that the Chinese government is responding to challenges with a pragmatic approach. China's economic resilience has become even more evident amid global uncertainty. Its complete industrial system, highly skilled talent pool and continuously improving business environment all remain highly attractive.

XIA: In an environment where global uncertainties continue to build, China's consistent growth trajectory provides an important anchor for multinational companies like Evonik. It strengthens our confidence to further invest, innovate, and deepen our presence in the country, which already plays a critical role in our global business. China remains the world's largest producer in the chemicals sector, and its scale and resilience create a strong foundation for long-term growth. As part of our global strategy, Evonik aims to increase the share of its footprint, sales, assets and people in China. Specifically, we want to raise China's share of global revenue from about 10 percent now to 15 percent by 2032, supported by expanding innovation capabilities and multiple production facilities.

ZHOU: China has always been one of dsm-firmenich's most strategic markets, and its growth certainty provides a more predictable environment and long-term strategic confidence for us. We also clearly see the Chinese government's continued efforts to optimize the consumer market and foster deeper integration between technological and industrial innovation. These measures further strengthen our confidence as a multinational company committed to long-term development in China. Looking ahead, we will continue bringing global technologies and solutions to China, while leveraging local innovation to contribute back to global markets, and collaborating with partners to drive high-quality development.

HUANG: China is Dow's largest market outside the US and a key region for driving global business growth and achieving sustainable development goals. In an increasingly uncertain global environment, China's relative policy clarity and continued industrial upgrading provide an important source of stability and confidence for multinational companies. Dow prioritizes markets with clear policy direction, strong fundamentals and sustained momentum in industrial transformation. In China, we have made providing materials science solutions for advanced intelligent manufacturing and a low-carbon circular economy our strategic focus. We aim to translate innovation into scalable, practical solutions that support high-quality development and deliver transformative growth in both innovation and sustainability.

Q2 In 2025, China's exports rose 6.1 percent, newly established foreign-invested enterprises increased by 19.1 percent, and research and development intensity reached 2.8 percent of GDP. Against the backdrop of global supply chain reconfiguration, is China's role in your global strategy expanding? How do you evaluate China's integrated advantages — manufacturing depth, innovation capacity, infrastructure and market scale — in supporting your production networks and supply resilience? Does China function primarily as a market, a production base, an innovation hub, or increasingly all three within your corporate architecture?

HOMMA: The Chinese market has unparalleled advantages in innovation speed, market size, the pace of intelligent transformation, the ability to absorb and apply new technologies, talent resources and supply chains. Amid intense competition, China has increasingly become a "training ground" for multinational companies to sharpen their competitiveness. Panasonic has achieved two consecutive years of business growth in components and industrial equipment that empower sectors such as AI, semiconductors and new energy. Signals from this year's two sessions reaffirm that China's economy is underpinned by solid fundamentals, multiple advantages, strong resilience and vast potential, while new quality productive forces are accelerating. Such a stable development environment continues to provide broad opportunities for foreign-invested enterprises.

XIA: China continues to play a pivotal role in global industrial and supply chains — not only as the world's largest chemicals producer, but as a strategic partner in high-end and green transformation. China is the cornerstone of Evonik's global growth, and we are proactively expanding our footprint with a particular focus on sustainability that aligns with China's ambitions toward high-end manufacturing and an enhanced digital economy. For Evonik, this integrated advantage enables China to function simultaneously as a core market for high-value specialty chemicals, a production base embedded in global supply networks and an innovation hub, especially in fields such as biotechnology, new energy, batteries and the circular economy.

ZHOU: China has always been one of our strategically important markets. On manufacturing, we continue expanding investment. In January, dsm-firmenich (Hohhot) Biotechnology Co Ltd commenced operations, providing timely support to local dairy enterprises. Last year, we completed the acquisition of a 90.5 percent strategic stake in Yantai Andre Pectin, enhancing supply chain resilience. Emerging sectors, nutritional products, the silver economy and the fragrance economy align strongly with our core business. Our 2025 Shanghai Fine Fragrance Atelier 2.0 upgrade responds precisely to consumers' shift from functional needs to emotional healing and cultural identity.

HUANG: In a period marked by global supply chain reconfiguration, companies are increasingly looking for locations that combine scale, reliability, innovation capability and market depth. The China market combines strong scale advantages with significant growth potential. It features a globally rare, fully integrated manufacturing value chain and a highly efficient logistics system, and is increasingly becoming a comprehensive hub that brings together manufacturing, application-driven innovation and market demand. The "new quality productive forces" have merged into the engine of China's high-quality and sustainable development. The China market offers Dow broad opportunities to translate the science of cutting-edge materials into solutions that are practical, scalable and sustainable.

Q3 China is advancing the unified national market, with an urbanization rate of 67.9 percent and total retail sales surpassing 50 trillion yuan. As domestic demand expands, what structural opportunities does this vast, increasingly integrated market present for your portfolio, distribution channels, and localization strategy? Does deeper market unification reduce operational fragmentation and compliance costs? How do you position your brand and product mix to capture demand from both top-tier cities and fast-growing lower-tier markets?

HOMMA: I am highly confident about the potential of China's domestic demand expansion. With a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group expected to exceed 800 million in the future, the sheer size of the market itself represents a tremendous advantage. The room for consumption upgrading is enormous. For Panasonic, this aligns closely with our key business areas. Panasonic's healthy and smart living spaces business is built around Chinese households' pursuit of higher-quality lifestyles, and the expansion of services consumption will bring new opportunities for Panasonic in the healthcare and eldercare sectors. At the same time, the continued implementation of the consumer goods trade-in policy will drive demand for upgrades and replacements of home appliances and other products.

XIA: Greater market unification helps lower compliance fragmentation, improve logistics efficiency and standardize channels. These elements are critical for chemical companies like Evonik, as the industry provides the fundamental raw materials for diversified sectors, from new energy vehicles and new energy to coatings, healthcare and consumer goods. At the same time, deeper market integration enables us to tailor our strategies more precisely to regional industry clusters. We are strengthening our footprint through local partnerships and investments. Key examples include our upcoming Leshan joint venture to support western China's solar supply chain and the Shanghai Innovation Park, which connects global R&D strengths with China's dynamic industrial ecosystem.

ZHOU: As China's consumption landscape upgrades, emerging sectors show strong momentum, aligning closely with dsm-firmenich's core business.

At the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we feel the robust vitality of the Chinese market. We leverage the National Citrus Engineering Research Center to develop six breakthrough citrus flavors. Our Hohhot project has advanced from establishment to production, reinforcing our leadership in the dairy sector.

Looking ahead, we uphold our purpose "We bring progress to life", collaborating with partners to empower industry upgrading and drive high-quality development in China.

HUANG: Over the years, Dow has seen continuous improvements in the business environment. We warmly welcome new initiatives that will further remove regional barriers and ensure all companies are treated equally.

The continuous upgrading of consumer and industrial demand reinforces our focus on sustainable innovation and high-value applications, which are strongly backed by our well-established integrated R&D expertise in China.

Dow has built a robust supply chain in China and continues to strengthen it to support the country's growing role in global markets. In March 2025, Dow completed a silicone expansion in Zhangjiagang to better serve high-growth sectors including electronics, transportation, renewable energy, packaging and construction.

Q4 China's trade-in program generated over 2.6 trillion yuan in sales in 2025, alongside the "Shopping in China" and "Export to China" initiatives. China's exports grew 6.1 percent year-on-year. How is your company aligning its China strategy to capture both domestic consumption upgrades and export-oriented opportunities? Do you see China increasingly as a global production and innovation base serving international markets? How are you balancing local demand expansion with China's role in your global export ecosystem?

HOMMA: Changes in China's consumer market are reshaping the strategic logic of global companies. One of the most notable shifts is that consumers are moving from "pursuing ownership" to "pursuing quality of life". They care not only about the technological sophistication of products, but also about issues that return to the essence of life, such as health, eldercare and environmental sustainability. This dual demand is prompting us to rethink our approach: the traditional model of simply "selling global products in China" no longer works — products and solutions must be tailored specifically for Chinese consumers. In the long run, the evolution of China's consumer market is making multinational companies realize that China is not only a destination for sales, but also a source of innovation. Panasonic's long-term investment plans will therefore resonate closely with China's ongoing consumption upgrade.

XIA: Rising demand for high quality, sustainable and advanced materials continues to create opportunities for Evonik across various sectors. Our strategy in China balances domestic market needs with China's export oriented role. On the one hand, we are localizing production and innovation to better meet the needs of domestic customers. On the other hand, we are leveraging China's strong supply chain capabilities, as well as its cost efficient and well-established production ecosystem, to support exports to regional and global markets. For example, our recent investment in expanding specialty amines production in Nanjing enhances our ability to meet demand in automotive, construction, furniture and consumer goods — both in China and abroad.

ZHOU: China plays multiple roles in dsm-firmenich's global footprint — as a key market, an innovation hub, a production base and a critical supply chain hub. Facing the dual opportunities of "Shopping in China" and "Export to China", our strategy is to advance both dimensions in a balanced and synergistic way. On the one hand, we continue to strengthen localized innovation and expand our production capabilities to respond precisely to China's evolving consumer needs, contributing to "Shopping in China". On the other hand, leveraging dsm-firmenich's scientific expertise, supply chain resilience, and quality systems in nutrition, health and beauty, we work closely with partners across the value chain to enhance product innovation relevance, regulatory responsiveness and supply assurance for the Chinese market.

HUANG: In China, Dow continues to deepen collaboration with local customers and brand owners to better understand the evolving market and deliver solutions that help address current challenges. At the same time, China's comprehensive manufacturing ecosystem, efficient supply chains and strong innovation capabilities underpin its role as a major consumer market and a key node in global production and supply networks. Leveraging our global technologies and resources, Dow continues to strengthen local manufacturing, R&D, and service capabilities, and enhance supply chain resilience — enabling us not only to support customer growth in China, but also to help them expand into international markets.

Q5 China last year reduced energy intensity by 5.1 percent, raised the nonfossil energy share to 21.7 percent, and expanded new-type energy storage capacity beyond 130 gigawatts. Artificial intelligence and advanced technologies remain at the forefront globally. Where do you see the strongest partnership potential in China's green transition and AI-driven industrial upgrading? Are you expanding investment in renewables, digitalization, smart manufacturing, or carbon management solutions? How central is China to your global sustainability roadmap and next-generation technology deployment?

HOMMA: The irreplaceable advantages of the Chinese market lie in its enormous market size, complete industrial chains, institutional opening-up, vibrant innovation ecosystem, tolerance for experimentation and strong talent pool — all of which are highly attractive to international brands and service providers. China has proposed the "dual carbon" goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, which will generate trillions of yuan in green investment. Meanwhile, Japan has mature technologies and operational experience in energy conservation and environmental protection, while China possesses a complete industrial chain, large-scale manufacturing capabilities and strong capacity for real-world application. By strengthening localized R&D in China, they can shift from the traditional model of "technology exports" toward "ecosystem co-creation". By deeply integrating into China's AI and autonomous driving ecosystems — through collaboration with leading Chinese companies, including large model developers and automotive manufacturers' supply chains — Japanese firms can achieve technological upgrading and accelerate the commercialization of new products.

XIA: China's strong progress in these areas aligns closely with Evonik's sustainability and digitalization strategy. We focus on three key growth areas: biobased solutions, the energy transition and the circular economy. A concrete example is Evonik's first global AEM center, which will open this year in Shanghai. It aims to accelerate next-generation hydrogen technologies to support green energy and decarbonization in China. We also see significant opportunities in digital infrastructure and data-center technologies — sectors rapidly expanding alongside China's AI boom. Evonik provides advanced thermal-management solutions and other materials that help data centers improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. We also offer solutions for the consumer electronics and battery industry. With these capabilities, we are well positioned to support China's transition toward greener energy systems and smarter, more sustainable industrial growth.

HUANG: Dow sees its greatest opportunities in applying materials science at scale to support China's key transitions, collaborating with industry partners and contributing to China's "dual-carbon" goals. China holds a leading position in renewable energy. Dow has a strong presence in the value chain, from photovoltaic module encapsulation and wind power systems to energy storage solutions. For circular-economy development, Dow is committed to embedding innovation across the entire plastics lifecycle and strengthening collaboration to enable more plastics to be recycled and retained within the value chain. In China, Dow works with brands and partners to collect, proceed and transform discarded plastics into post-consumer recycled resins. In 2025, Dow and partners launched a full-lifecycle plastic recycling traceability solution, which leveraged AI and smart tagging to enhance the efficiency and transparency of plastic recycling, and encourage broader consumer participation.