Most headlines in Western media focus on those leaving China.

Nevertheless, many companies are expanding their presence in China. In fact, 20,131 new foreign-funded enterprises were established in the first half of 2019. Foreign direct investment in China rose to USD 70.74 billion, an increase of 3.5% in dollar terms.

The largest increases in foreign investment in China came from the Republic of Korea, up 63%, and Germany, up more than 81%. The strongest growth was recorded in the high-tech industry, services, R&D, and the science and technology sector.

In the first half of the year, Shanghai received USD 9.75 billion in foreign investment, up 13.9% year on year. Investment by companies from the European Union, Singapore, Japan, and countries along the Belt and Road grew at double-digit rates.

Of the 23 multinational corporations that opened regional headquarters in Shanghai during this period, eleven, including Apple and French sporting goods company Decathlon, opened in Pudong.

The technology sector, including electronics, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, recorded the fastest growth in foreign investment, increasing by 230% year on year.

Top 10 international companies expanding their operations in China in 2019:

Tesla
Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer, built its new Gigafactory in Shanghai and plans to begin production by the end of 2019. Tesla’s USD 7.3 billion plant, its first outside the United States, is the largest foreign-invested industrial project in Shanghai’s history.

Tim Hortons
In February, Tim Hortons opened its first restaurant in China, called Tims Coffee House, in Shanghai’s People’s Square. The company is Canada’s largest coffee and doughnut chain. It plans to open 1,500 locations in China over the next decade.

Allbirds
Allbirds, a San Francisco-based brand of environmentally friendly sneakers, announced plans in February to expand into China. The company is opening a store and warehouse in Shanghai and will also cooperate with Alibaba to sell its products on the Tmall e-commerce platform.

Pfizer Upjohn
In May, Pfizer opened the global headquarters of its generics and off-patent medicines division, Pfizer Upjohn, in Shanghai. Pfizer Upjohn is one of Pfizer’s three main business divisions worldwide and manufactures more than twenty types of medicines. China accounted for around 20% of the company’s global revenue in 2018.

Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson launched its JLABS innovation ecosystem in Shanghai in June this year. The ecosystem was launched jointly with Shanghai Pharma Engine Co Ltd. It is the world’s largest JLABS facility, covering 4,400 square meters, and the first JLABS in the Asia-Pacific region. 31 startups have already become residents.
In July, Swire Coca Cola announced that it would focus its global strategy on China and relocate its headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Apple
As announced in June, Apple is moving production of its Mac Pro computers from the United States to China. The company hopes to reduce transportation costs between its suppliers. As early as 2016, 14 of Apple’s 18 assembly plants worldwide were located in China.

Swire Coca Cola
In July, Swire Coca Cola announced that it would focus its global strategy on China and relocate its headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The company, one of the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottlers, serves 728 million people, including consumers in 11 Chinese provinces and part of the western United States.

Salesforce
Salesforce, a US provider of cloud-based CRM platform services, announced in July its intention to enter the Chinese market through a partnership with China’s Alibaba Group Holdings. Alibaba will become the exclusive provider of Salesforce products in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

SWIFT
In early August, SWIFT, the Belgium-based global financial messaging platform, established a wholly owned company in Beijing in order to localize its products and services more effectively.

Costco
Costco Wholesale, a US-headquartered membership-based retailer, is opening its first store in mainland China. The company has operated an online retail store in China since 2017.