This photo taken on April 26, 2024 shows a BMW electric vehicle displayed at the signing ceremony for deepening strategic cooperation between BMW and Shenyang, in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Riding the wave of China's high-level opening-up, foreign companies are leveraging the advantages of the world's second-largest economy and participating in its innovation pursuit, to achieve win-win cooperation.

In Shanghai, Takeda R&D China and Asia-Pacific Region Headquarters has achieved simultaneous global development and regulatory submissions for new drugs, allowing Chinese patients to enjoy innovative products faster. This month, in the biopharmaceutical company's global pivotal study for a drug treating immune thrombocytopenia, the first patient enrollment took place in China, led by a local team.

"The enrollment highlights China's role in our global clinical development," said Wang Lin, senior vice president of Takeda R&D. "China has become one of Takeda's four key R&D hubs, playing an increasingly prominent role in our innovation efforts."

Over the years, China has been fostering emerging and future industries and advancing green and low-carbon development, while attracting increased foreign investment in innovation across sectors such as biomedicine, new energy vehicles, and other cutting-edge fields.

Earlier this year, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. announced plans to build a new wholly-owned company to develop and produce battery electric vehicles under the Lexus brand, with production scheduled to begin from 2027 onwards.

On Tuesday, German auto giant BMW announced the launch of its 360-degree AI strategy in China, aiming to improve user experience, optimize business processes for greater efficiency, and foster win-win supply chain cooperation. With R&D centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing, BMW has built its largest R&D network outside Germany in China.

Foreign investment plays a significant role in fostering new quality productive forces, and China supports foreign enterprises to participate in its new industrialization, with a focus on high-tech fields, according to an action plan to stabilize foreign investment in 2025, which was approved by a State Council executive meeting in February.

"The action plan has reaffirmed our confidence in investing in China," said Pu Qing, chairman assistant of Misumi (China) Precision Machinery Trading Company, whose supply chain industrial park, with a total investment of 450 million yuan (about 62.7 million U.S. dollars), began operations in Shanghai last year.

The company has established in-depth cooperation with over 800 domestic enterprises in the industrial automation sector, and contributed to their product development, as well as overseas business expansion. "This year, we will actively make efforts to accelerate the development of China's intelligent manufacturing," he added.

According to Gao Yuning, deputy dean of the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, China's efficient trade channels, advancing production capabilities, and stable, reliable supply chains have encouraged more foreign-funded enterprises to establish research, development and production operations for their cutting-edge products in the country.

This photo shows Megapack energy-storage batteries in east China's Shanghai, March 21, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

In Tesla's case, the company's new Megafactory in Shanghai, which began production in February, made its debut export last week, shipping its first batch of Megapack energy-storage batteries to Australia.

With a total investment of approximately 1.45 billion yuan, the new Megafactory is Tesla's first of its kind outside the United States. According to Mike Snyder, Tesla's vice president, the facility can help enhance efficiency, scale up production, reduce logistics and product costs, and expand the company's reach into new markets.

Last year, 59,080 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in China, up 9.9 percent year on year. Over the past five years, the return rate of foreign direct investment in the country has remained at approximately 9 percent, ranking among the highest in the world.

"China is committed to open and win-win cooperation and provides foreign-funded enterprises with a friendly environment and vast market. This is why investing in China is charming," said Sang Baichuan, dean of the Institute for International Economy of the University of International Business and Economics.