(Yicai) Aug. 23 -- More multinational companies are driving forward their strategy of ‘being in China for China and the world’ despite geopolitical tensions and shifts to the global value chain and at the same they are helping Chinese companies go global.

Trane Technologies China's supply chain is now ninety-eight percent localized, and the US-Irish maker of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems is also helping its Chinese suppliers expand into the international market, said Carrie Ruddy, senior vice president and chief communications and marketing officer of the firm.

For example, with Trane’s support, its supplier Inovance Technology has set up its North American headquarters near Trane’s century-old factory in the Midwest, Ruddy said. Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor has also built a factory in Mexico to meet Trane’s manufacturing needs in the US.

Ninety-eight percent of the suppliers to Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems unit Sullair China are Chinese, said Hideharu Tanaka, managing director of Hitachi Industrial. The Tokyo-based company is hiking its investment in China.

More equipment is being developed in China for global supply, Tanaka said. The production base in Suzhou not only supplies the local market but also that in other countries. China’s fast pace has driven the development of Hitachi Industrial's subsidiaries and products in other places.

German software company SAP has partnered with more than 300 Chinese colleges and universities over the 30 years that it has been in China and has trained millions of software experts, said Huang Chenhong, global executive vice president of Weinheim-based SAP and president of SAP China.

SAP’s largest research and development center outside Germany is in China, Huang said. The China R&D hub has participated in over 80 percent of SAP’s recent global solution development. It is not only involved in local innovation but also in R&D worldwide.

Animonda’s only team outside Germany is in China, said Yang Yiling, chief executive officer of the German pet food firm’s China arm. More manufacturing tie-ups between China and Germany will benefit the global market. Products made in China have appeared at German trade fairs this year to tap into the international market, she added.

The number of new foreign-invested companies set up in China surged 11.4 percent in the first seven months from a year ago to 31,654, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

China needs to relax access for foreign investment, optimize attracting overseas investment, respond to reasonable requests from foreign businessmen in a timely manner, and introduce more pragmatic initiatives to enhance the business environment and improve services and guarantees, according to a recent meeting of the country’s cabinet.

Editor: Kim Taylor