Editor's Note:The Chinese economy has managed to withstand a slew of challenges in the past year, and policy priority in 2022 will focus on maintaining stable growth as identified by top policymakers at the annual tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference in December. China Daily talked to multinational executives on how they view the prospects for the Chinese economy and how they will align their business strategies with China's efforts to deepen reforms and push for high-quality development.

Q1: The year 2021 has seen the global economy withstand a variety of challenges in the form of COVID woes, trade disruptions, energy shortages, a roller coaster in commodities, high shipping costs and geopolitical tensions. Against such a background, what is your assessment of China's economic growth prospects in 2022 and beyond?

Q2: Within the macro context discussed earlier, how do you see your company's performance in China and future prospects relative to your global operations?

Q3: How do you view recent key meetings in China that have reinforced the country's sustained commitment to reform, opening-up, equal treatment for foreign businesses, and more measures to attract MNCs and foreign investors? What else should China do in this direction, especially in terms of surmounting potential barriers?

Q4: What is your view on China's net zero efforts (carbon goals), especially from the standpoint of potential new business opportunities they may spawn?

Q5: The question－"Is China still investable?"－has popped up in popular media discourse after the recent big-ticket regulatory changes (like antitrust/anti-monopoly measures and steps to preempt a possible debt bubble in property). How would you answer that question? Does China remain attractive for your business?

Chen Yudong, president of Bosch China

A1 In 2021, along with the new normal of COVID-19 prevention and control, we have seen active and effective countermeasures taken by local governments at all levels in China. At the Central Economic Work Conference in early December, authorities proposed various policies to achieve growth targets and emphasized "stability at the forefront", giving us confidence in the long-term, stable and positive development of the Chinese economy.

A2 Due to COVID-19 disruption, 2021 was difficult for Bosch China. Yet thanks to strong recovery and development of the China market, especially in automotive, manufacturing and home appliance industries, together with the joint efforts of all employees, Bosch China achieved record high sales revenue. With this result, we still see China a major growth driver for the Bosch Group in 2021.

In the field of electrification, led by "3060" carbon goals, we view China as one of the most promising new energy markets in the world in terms of growth potential.

A3 Since the introduction of the new "Foreign Investment Law" in 2020, foreign investors can also enjoy equal treatment with domestic counterparts. This year, we are pleased to see the reduction of the negative list for the fifth consecutive year, as well as more emerging industries in the encouraged directory, including the further liberalization of foreign shareholding in passenger car companies, which brings more investment opportunities in the automotive industry.

At the same time, we also expect the business environment to be further improved, including strengthening intellectual property protection and regulating unhealthy expansion of capital.

A4 As we can see, compared with developed countries, the mission for China is more challenging, in terms of the amount of emission reductions and the short time frame left for the country. As a manufacturing company, Bosch would like to start as a role model and call on the industry to start with its own carbon footprint analysis, and gradually reduce carbon emissions following a targeted plan.

A5 We see that the Chinese market is still a huge market that continues to develop steadily. The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) proposes to continuously expand the middle-income group, which means that both the current and incremental markets for consumer goods that are closely related to people's living standards hold great potential.

Bosch expects that long-term policy guidance will bring stable expectations and confidence to foreign investment. For Bosch, China has always been one of the most important markets.