Steve Schneider, chairman and chief executive of General Electric China, emphasized the US-based conglomerate's unchanged commitment to China despite the short-term reduced level of business activities throughout the country.

"China will remain one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. The fundamentals for GE to do business in China - with China's needs for rapid infrastructure growth and GE's ability to serve the majority of those demands - have never been stronger.

"Our goals in China - US$5 billion sales and US$5 billion sourcing in the year 2005 - are unchanged."

GE's US$60 million global research centre in Shanghai is in the final stages of construction and is expected to be fully operational this summer.

While the spread of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) has delayed Chinese fabric deliveries and hit small retailers, the world textile giant Dupont opted not to stop its expansion plan in China.

Charles Browne, Dupont's China president, said: "The loss of textiles will be a small drop in the sawtooth curve but it does not stop the ongoing growth.

"We have, in the past five years, been growing at between 25 to 30 percent a year and I really do not see any reason for that to slow down."

Dupont will invest US$100 million a year in China over the next three years, he said.

As part of its investment, Dupont will begin construction of a research facility in Shanghai later this year, to cost between US$10 million and US$15 million.

Foreign companies have given donations and taken part in public activities in the fight against SARS to express their long-term commitment to China.

According to incomplete statistics, US$2.6 million has been given in non-governmental foreign donations a large part of which is from multinationals.

J. M. Mueller, head of Nestle operations for China, said: "Caring for people has always been and will continue to be part of our corporate culture and we therefore value the courage and commitment of all the medical workers who care for the people in need and are helping to save their lives."

Nestle donated 1 million yuan (US$121,000) in food and beverage products to the Ministry of Health to support medical professionals fighting SARS.

The phone company Motorola, the largest foreign investor in China, is another example.

Mike Zafirovski, the firm's president and chief operating officer, went to Beijing on May 16 to demonstrate his company's commitment to China, the first visit by such a high-profile foreign entrepreneur.

After a Motorola employee was diagnosed on April 27 as having SARS, the company quickly moved 600 of its 1,000 employees from its offices in Dabeyao in eastern Beijing to offices in Zizhuyuan in western Beijing.

(China Daily May 30, 2003)