(Yicai Global) Feb. 28 -- Despite the 'black swan' Covid-19 epidemic, executives of several foreign financial institutions and manufacturing firms told Yicai Global that they would prefer to look at the Chinese market from a long-term perspective.

"We aim to launch our first product in the second half, and then we'll launch more differentiated product lines," said Tan Ying, president of US asset manager Russell Investments' wholly owned Chinese subsidiary in Shanghai.

The unit completed registration at the Asset Management Association of China on Feb. 14, becoming the 24th registered foreign private equity fund manager in China and the first foreign PE investment fund to finish registration this year.

Tan told Yicai Global that Russell Investments has been in the Chinese market for a long time. It has always believed that East Asia, including China, is a very important market for the global asset management sector, and temporary difficulties and events will not sway that belief.

"Professional or institutional investors generally view the market rationally," she said. "You can see that both northbound funds and institutional investors behaved in a quite restrained and rational manner when trading resumed on the Chinese stock market after a long holiday on Feb. 3."

There are many opportunities in the market and completing the registration as a wholly foreign-owned private equity fund manager is a "key step" for Russell Investments' expansion in China, Tan added.

Even overseas capital-funded manufacturers directly impacted by the epidemic have full confidence in China's position in the global industry chain.

"Jungheinrich hasn't changed its direction and plan to accelerate deployment of its global supply chain in China," according to Bai Daping, general manager of the China branch of Jungheinrich, a Germany-based supplier of material handling equipment, storage and logistics technology.

Jungheinrich's plant in Shanghai not only supplies the Chinese market but also markets in the Asia Pacific and Europe. By order numbers, European clients make up 50 percent of its customers, followed by Chinese at 30 percent and those in the Asia Pacific at 20 percent. But by amount of orders, Chinese customers account for the majority.

Some 80 percent of the company's production lines at the plant have resumed operation, and 87 percent of its 152 upstream suppliers across China are back at work.

China is the country with the largest demand for forklifts worldwide, making up over half of the annual new demand of the world's total, Bai said. "Demand is expected to surge in the second half as the epidemic is gradually brought under control."

Zhang Yufeng, president of Honeywell China, gave a similar upbeat assessment of the country, telling Yicai Global: "We believe in the strength of 'Made in China' and the resilience of the Chinese economy."

Honeywell's plant in Shanghai's Jiading district, a high-tech factory producing gas detectors, urgently needed to resume operations as it had received several emergency orders from domestic and overseas clients before the Chinese New Year holiday. With the help of the administration committee of the local industrial zone, the share of workers getting back to their duties has jumped to 90 percent, and the delivery of orders signed before the holiday is set to finish by mid-March.

Honeywell China's employees, other than those in the worst-hit Hubei province and under quarantine, will return to work from March 2, Zhang estimated.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Peter Thomas