Multinational companies are showing their strong commitment to the Chinese market, with some of their local factories posting record production figures and a new foreign investment project being launched despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Manish Bhatia, executive vice-president of global operations of US chip giant Micron Technology Inc, said the company's manufacturing plant in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, saw record output amid the contagion.

    "The chip packaging and testing plant has been operating at full capacity since January," Bhatia said. "The local government has been very helpful in helping us maintain operations. None of our employees are infected with the virus."

    "China is a very important market for us," Bhatia said, adding that the company is not changing its plans for the nation." We really value our employees here. Amid the outbreak, they kept coming to work and ensuring continuous production at the highest level. That is really exemplary," he added.

    Micron is one of the foreign companies that have benefited from the China's sizable market, as the nation makes steady progress in improving its business environment.

    Denis Depoux, global managing director at consultancy Roland Berger, said China boasts a sound industrial system, efficient infrastructure, leading technologies and a rich talent reserve, providing an incomparable market for foreign-invested enterprises.

    In the past five years, US tech heavyweights Apple Inc, Intel Corp and Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia have seen 60 percent growth in their China-generated revenues, according to a report by Roland Berger and Emlyon Business School, a leading French business school.

    "Today, when the trend of anti-globalization is on the rise, China still strives to offer more opportunities for foreign-invested enterprises by refining its legal framework and widening market access, significantly boosting the confidence of foreign stakeholders," Depoux said.

    On Wednesday, multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil broke ground on its chemical complex in Huizhou, Guangdong province, a sign of China's rebounding economy as the outbreak's impact subsides.

    The complex, with a total investment of about $10 billion, will be built in two phases. The first phase, with an ethylene cracker and downstream production equipment, is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin.