Editor's note: The Chinese government has rolled out a series of targeted measures to help revitalize businesses and boost economic growth in the face of COVID-19 epidemic. China Daily interviewed top business executives from well-known multinational companies for their views and experiences during the outbreak, as well as their business strategies for the post COVID-19 period.

Q1: This year's two sessions were postponed over two months due to COVID-19. What policy guidelines are you expecting from the upcoming meetings?

Q2: The outbreak has caused disruptions to the global economy. How is your China business recovering from the outbreak? Will your investment plans in the country change due to the virus?

Q3: The government has released a series of policies to help revitalize businesses. Which one, or ones, are most helpful to your company?

Q4: Have you identified any new business opportunities after the COVID-19 outbreak? Are there any new best practices in terms of business operations coming from China setting the trend for your business worldwide?

Q5: Ensuring employment is one of the top priorities for the Chinese government as it strives to restore growth after the epidemic. What measures are you taking in China to ensure employment and benefits for employees?

A1: Given the importance of the travel industry to the local economy, we expect the government to cover a lot of relevant topics that hopefully will help with the recovery of the travel and short-term rental industry.

The following are some categories that we think will be beneficial for the industry's post-outbreak development. Support the small and medium-sized enterprises to stimulate the economy towards a healthy and sustainable future. Upgrade the tourism products and services and stimulate consumption to revitalize the tourism industry along with the service industry.

Elevate cleaning and sanitization standards for the homestay industry, and reassure both hosts and guests, as well as providing travelers with safe and comfortable surroundings.

A2: The COVID-19 outbreak is causing travel restrictions and other disruptions that have a direct impact on the travel and tourism sector and beyond. Most importantly, our focus right now is on how we can best support our stakeholders as they are impacted by this global health challenge, including hosts, guests, employees and the communities in which we operate. We remain absolutely committed to the China market and will continue to invest in it, and do all we can to support our amazing community of hosts and guests in China.

We already see early signs of recovery. According to Airbnb's internal data, the growth of domestic bookings between April 1 and April 18 surpassed 200 percent month-on-month. The number of searches for domestic listings for Labor Day holidays has increased by more than 2.5 times compared with the same period last year.

A3: The tourism industry has been severely impacted by the pandemic. However, in the period of economic recovery, the government has leveraged stimulating the tourism industry to re-boost the economy, with a series of supportive policies being introduced by both central and local governments, ranging from encouraging consumption to supporting high-quality tourism products. Built on a recovering and positive environment, we have the confidence to revitalize the business and hope to play a role in revitalizing the industry.

We fully support governments' efforts to revitalize the travel industry and also make investments that will strengthen and grow our community of hosts and guests and boost the resilience of the Chinese economy.

A4: People will seek out nearby things to do and places to visit, and want longer-term stay options for family, work and study. They also will look for sites and activities away from tourist hotspots. All of these create new ways for regular people and communities to benefit from travel and tourism.

As COVID-19 brought severe travel restrictions, we worked with the hosts on our platform to help them shift to meet new consumer needs for longer-term stays within their communities. In recent weeks, we've seen a significant increase in longer-term stay bookings on Airbnb as compared to last year. Eight in 10 Airbnb hosts now accept longer-term stays and about half of Airbnb's active listings now provide discounts for stays of one month or longer.

A5: China is one of Airbnb's most important markets. Our sharing model provides additional revenue streams for hosts and allows guests to explore new areas and contribute to the local economy. We will also expand our involvement with local communities to better support our Chinese hosts.

Airbnb China announced a $10 million fund in early February and took some measures in China to rebuild the community's confidence and support our hosts in the next few years during the recovery period of the local tourism industry. Over the last few months, we also launched several local initiatives that are helping local hosts and guests to cope with the disruption created by the outbreak. These include a pre-sell and early payout program for hosts as well as rest assured stays for guests.

Stephan Kothrade, President & Chairman, Greater China, BASF

A1: We appreciate the efforts made by Chinese government during the crisis in helping foreign companies like BASF. We believe that preferential policies in tax and energy will be necessary to help the Chinese chemical companies to recover from this historic crisis. Also, the consistent inclusion of foreign passport holders in the QR health code system will be welcomed for foreign nationals traveling in China.

A2: The company anticipates a considerable decline in sales volumes in the second quarter of 2020 and a slow recovery for the third and fourth quarters of 2020. How the situation develops is uncertain and not predictable now. Most BASF sites and offices on the Chinese mainland did continuously operate or have resumed operation. China will be a major contributor. We are committed towards the long-term development of the Chinese market. Our investment projects in China, including the BASF Guangdong Verbund, are progressing as planned.

A3: The Chinese government has been ramping up monetary and fiscal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past weeks, including increasing export VAT refund rates, direct financial support on employees' social benefits. Most of these measures are targeted at bailout and relief, which have benefited many companies in China, including BASF, to partly offset the negative impact brought by the pandemic.

A4: BASF produces products that are essential for containing and combating the coronavirus. At the moment, customers from pharma, detergents and cleaners, or food are even experiencing additional demand.

BASF also enhances its e-commerce presence in China. On March 20 BASF launched a fully automated ordering system on Alibaba's 1688.com flagship online store. It shortens the order-to-ship time from several days to two or three hours.

A5: Employment rests on economic success. Chemicals are the foundation of the value chain of all the other industries. BASF is committed to several large-scale projects, including the multi-billion-dollar BASF Guangdong Verbund site project in Zhanjiang. All these high technology sites are not only operating to generate business for BASF, but also help our high technology customers to position themselves more successfully and sustainably in the domestic and international markets. We also highly value the health and safety of all our employees in BASF. We've been taking precautionary measures at all sites and offices since work resumptions.

Peter Huang, president of Greater China, Corteva Agriscience

A1: The key this year will be how China navigates this global crisis and furthers its agendas by focusing on policies that alleviate pressure and leverage the market economy to inspire innovation. This point is close to Corteva's heart as we are engaging with millions of farmers and growers across the country through the promotion of ‘farm enterprise'. We also hope to see what progress has been made with regards to the opening up measures proposed last year.

A2: China remains a core business location for Corteva and our operations in China are back to normal. Corteva is deeply committed to the sustainable growth of farmers, land, community and our operations across the world. And the outbreak hasn't changed our plans. In China, we've set forth goals that improve farmers' livelihoods and operations, while conserving resources and sustaining the land. In the next decade and beyond, we will provide tools and training to increase yield stability, optimize input and improve climate resilience, provide training on soil health, nutrient and water stewardship, as well as productivity best practices. We will also increase the productivity, income and sustainable farming practices of smallholder farmers.

A3: The most inspiring policies for our business will be those aligning the government's top agenda of fostering new growth drivers, especially in the field of accelerated digitalization, which is also a major trend in agriculture.

Agriculture is fundamental to people's lives and we also value the government's highlights on leveraging the position of essential industries, such as agriculture, and major industry players, such as ourselves, to maintain ordered revitalization.

A4: In terms of best practices we have acquired insights on the effectiveness of efficient and holistic solutions against uncertainties, the importance of supply chain resilience and the proactive responses to change from Chinese farmers. China is currently ahead of the rest of the world as it enters the normalization stage of recovery, pioneering and accumulating valuable practices and experiences. Evidenced by China's achievements, a globally connected future lies ahead, and deepening collaboration, led by China, will only benefit our business and the whole industry at large.

A5: Corteva is committed to continuous investment for the long-term development and well-being of our employees. Over the epidemic, Corteva has continued to progress its employee training and skills in an effort to improve the capability of local operations and better respond to the fast-changing market environment. To date, we have seen no loss of any jobs or reduction of employee benefits due to the epidemic.

Jiang Ying, vice-chair for China, Deloitte

A1: We are all expecting both short-term measures to continue to support the recovery of business and economy, from tax and social benefit support, financing support, from increasing government purchase, and more, tailored for the small and mid-business, export related business, or business with a supply chain that is globally reliant. More importantly, we hope to hear substantial and optimism for the future, from strong domestic consumption, to accelerated digital transformation of the whole society (from business to government), and even more open policy for foreign investment, to be an active leader and player in globalization.

A2: We are recovering very strongly. Deloitte has responded quickly to form COVID-19 task forces to protect our employees in China and around the world. We created a self-reporting track and trace system for our 20,000 employees in China within two days and we are continuing to use them to protect and manage our workforce in China. Our serving of our clients has never stopped. Working digitally has been a norm for Deloitte China even before COVID-19 and we have accelerated our digitalization of working with our clients during the crisis. In addition, we have produced over 100 point-of-views of supporting our clients to navigate from respond, to recovery, and to thrive, so they can grow stronger in the next normal. Our investment plan has continued and will probably increase or accelerate, especially in the areas of digitalization, innovations ,and new products and services, especially to support our clients to participate in new infrastructure development.

A3: We are a talent-focused organization. The deferral and/or reduction of the social benefit contribution is the biggest support, especially during the first quarter of this year, where our business was slower than before.

A4: As the largest professional firm in the world, Deloitte China has been sharing since February what was happening in China and how Deloitte China has responded and has recovered. These recovery stories inspired and provide a very positive pathway for our practices around the world within our organization and for our clients.

We believe crisis is not to be wasted but to be leveraged for a stronger and more resilient organization. In the crucible of crisis, resilient leaders are defined first by who they are. Our actions are from our heart to protect our workforce, to serve our clients with distinction and to make a societal impact, to stabilize today, and to make decisive action, and to aim for a stronger future.

Looking at now and the future, many are uncertain. But what is certain is tech and digital transformation. This comes across in Asia and more so in China much stronger. Our clients are all looking at accelerating their transformational journey, and China will be leading the way with a ready infrastructure and business model, such as our E-payment system, our E-platform, and our strong mobile network. The New Infrastructure Initiative would certain lead the way in the Asia-Pacific region, and around the world.

A5: As a talent-intense organization, people first is the principle that we follow for everything we do. Deloitte has responded quickly to form COVID-19 task forces to protect our employees in China and around the world. We created a self-reporting track and trace system for our 20,000 employees in China within two days and we are continuing to use them to protect and manage our workforce in China. We are the first professional services firm to announce the Working from Home policy and have continued this policy since. We have provided adequate PPE to protect our employees when they need to work outside of their home. We have been putting our employees' interest to be the first priorities for everything we do. For example, our cutting of pay started with our partners in order to protect the employment of our workforce. We will continue to ensure we protect our workforce who will support our services to our clients for their recovery.

Dow Greater China President, Yoke Loon Lim

A1: We are expecting the two sessions to shed light on the development themes of China in the 14th Five-Year Plan, as well as additional policies to offset the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the market. There are many exciting discussions on new infrastructure investment focusing on IoT, smart city and 5G networks, which means opportunities for materials science companies like Dow. We are eager to learn the details.

A2: Dow continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. Our largest manufacturing site in Greater China, Zhangjiagang Operations, has remained operational throughout the epidemic. All other Dow manufacturing sites in the mainland of China went back to work on Feb 9 and have been running smoothly since then. The market recovery has been better than our original estimation, especially in sectors such as 5G, health and hygiene and consumer products. The outbreak didn't change our commitment to the market. On March 23th, we signed a MoU with the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone in Jiangsu province, announcing the intention to invest an additional $300 million in the next five years.

A3: We benefited from the waiver of social security fees.

A4: Dow supplies the world with materials needed for many life-critical applications: disinfectants, sanitizers, cleansers, personal protection equipment for healthcare professionals, memory foam for hospital beds, and more, which are in demand during the pandemic. The focus on personal health and hygiene will outlive this temporary crisis. The pandemic also accelerated adoption of digital tools, such as livestreaming and online technical services, as well as e-commerce of industrial products, which will also be sustained in a changed business environment.

A5: Our capacity in China is mainly for the Chinese and Asia Pacific market. By far, we have not seen any significant downward impact in the markets, and neither have our partners. Some segments, such as institution cleaning and home care, have seen strong growth in the past several months. We don't see any reason to revisit our employment scale or talent development plan in China. China is not only the home to 3,200 of our employees, but also the second-largest market for Dow. We grow and strive with our people in this country. Meanwhile, as part of a Dow global program, we provided a special award of $1,000 to all employees who took a personal risk and returned to work in Feb for more than 20 hours per week.

Connell Zhang, executive vice-president of Ecolab & president of China, Ecolab

A1: We're expecting the implementation and enforcement of the new foreign investment law and related policy guidelines, which will further level the playing field for businesses of various kinds and strengthen multinational companies' confidence in investing in China in the long term to support quality business developments as a whole. 

The policies on intellectual property protection related legislation are an important contributor to improving the business environment as well. 

It is equally important to further enable multinational companies to participate in setting industry standards and collaborating with Chinese partners in that regard.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn people's attention to maintaining a healthy public environment, we are also looking forward to higher hygiene and sanitization standards and requirements in general.

A2: We have seen a surge of demand for sanitization solutions since the beginning of the outbreak, resulting from significantly improved awareness of personal and public hygiene. 

Except sanitization, the demand from our customers was depressed in general due to less traffic to restaurants and hotels, and due to fewer orders from the export market.  But, it is now picking up with the gradual resumption of normal economic activities.  We believe that digital solutions will play an even larger role in this recovery process.

China is one of Ecolab's three mega markets across the globe, and we will continue our commitment here. Meanwhile, we are looking into localizing more production to support our customers and to grow with the Chinese nation.

A3: We are encouraged by the resourcefulness and commitment that the government has demonstrated to guarantee a safe public environment, which in turn, helps all companies, including Ecolab,  protect associates and provide timely support for customers, and allows us all to recover to a point of normal operation.

The strong financial incentives offered by the government are also crucial for companies to reduce operational costs and overcome difficulties during this challenging time, providing sound and effective measures for companies to boost business and long-term growth.

A4: We have seen significantly improved awareness in public health and hygiene, resulting in opportunities in some previously under-served segments, such as small- and medium-sized food service providers and the manufacturing sector. 

Digital transformation is undoubtedly the most obvious trend amid the pandemic, which has been a focal point at Ecolab for so long. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, we have been leveraging digital tools (e.g. 3D TRASAR™) to help our customers do remote monitoring, and launched "Food Safety 365" mobile app for food service and hospitality clients during the outbreak. 

China is ahead of the curve in this pandemic, so we have been able to share our experiences here with other regions, in terms of staff protection, work resumption, customer servicing and such. Meanwhile, we have also been learning from the rest of the world and exchanging experience and expertise in a mutually beneficial way.

A5: Our three key focus areas during the pandemic are protecting associates, serving customers, and sharing expertise. Our global and local teams have been working to help ensure the safety of our 3,400 associates in China. We have established rigorous protocols to guide decision-making as we serve our customers and reinforce safe practices. 

We are committed to the long-term development of China and the region. We expect to continue to grow our business quickly, building upon a close partnership with our associates in the country. We are very confident that Ecolab and our 3,400 China associates will play an even more important role in helping build a cleaner, safer and healthier society here, and at the same time, benefit from these great developments in China.

Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group

A1: China has taken systematic measures to facilitate a gradual recovery, both to strengthen production and support consumption. This includes promoting the development of "new infrastructure" in relation to 5G and charging stations for New Energy Vehicles. Eurasian Resources Group is supporting China's economic recovery and transition through its extensive, competitive portfolio, which includes ferrochrome, cobalt, copper, alumina and aluminum. These products are crucial for China's "new infrastructure" plan and we look forward to seeing more policy guidelines further enabling foreign enterprises to cooperate and invest in the country.

A2: As a long-term strategic partner of China, ERG focuses on strengthening its relationship with this key market, which accounts for 20-25 percent of total Group sales volumes, further developing cooperation with Chinese companies on business development projects and contributing its expertise to support the country's development.

For shipments from Kazakhstan to China, the Group, starting from March this year, is using the additional railway station (Altynkol), close to the Khorgos International Center of Boundary Cooperation. ERG's logistics company, TransCom, has steadily increased shipments of iron ore products to China this year, with April shipments almost double the same month in 2019.

A3: In April, the government extended its purchase subsidies on New Energy Vehicles for two years to 2022, while the sales of NEVs in China grew rapidly, by 9.7 percent month-on-month – a strong positive signal for the sector. ERG is growing as the world's second largest producer of cobalt, a key material for the batteries that power EVs, and the second largest supplier of the metal to China.

The government measures are also important for our copper business and we have reached a significant milestone at Metalkol RTR flagship facility in the DRC, where we produced the first copper under Phase II.

A4: We have been impressed by China's prompt and effective response to the outbreak. Our company, from the very beginning and in all countries of its presence, has been strictly adhering to relevant government and health expert guidance. Drawing on that initial experience, ERG has implemented a set of measures to ensure the health and safety of its employees at this challenging time and enable the continued running of its operations with minimal disruptions vs normal. ERG has undertaken a business continuity plan across its operations and is closely monitoring the situation as it evolves.

A5: At the outset of the outbreak, ERG took rapid measures in terms of medical supply preparation, as well as implementing internal information campaigns about the virus in China. In compliance with the government's guidance, we quickly put in place relevant policies, including flexible work arrangements and the deep cleaning of facilities. Our absolute priority is the health and safety of all our employees, contractors, as well as their families and the communities in which we operate.

Ericsson China President Zhao Juntao

A1: As a pillar of China's domestic economy, the information and telecommunications industry has always been a key topic of discussion at the two sessions. With 5G now emerging as a driver of growth for the new economy and an important platform for innovation, it will also open up greater room for maneuvering and increase the resilience of China's economy. As for the overall guideline direction this year's two sessions will signal, we expect the government will implement new policies and provide greater support for 5G construction as part of the "new infrastructure" strategy.

A2: At present, all of Ericsson China's offices in the country have opened and resumed operations, and our employees have returned to their posts. Our business in China is now operating at full capacity. So far, the COVID-19 outbreak has had a limited impact on our supply chain.

Recently, Ericsson won central procurement bids from China's three major carriers. We are proud to participate in China's 5G construction and serve our Chinese customers. Ericsson stands ready to support China's 5G construction even more with world-leading 5G technology.

A3: At Ericsson, we are greatly encouraged by the measures announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the central government has issued a series of measures to help companies confront this difficult period. China has included the construction of 5G networks as a key pillar in the country's new infrastructure, thus providing clear guidance for manufacturers and participants in the telecommunications industry. In addition, the central government, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and local governments have put forward specific action plans for 5G development. All these supporting measures have offered significant encouragement to us.

A4: We have observed the critical role mobile communications technology has played in the fight against the pandemic. Innovative applications, such as remote consultations, online education and online contract signing, have created new opportunities for 5G in economic development.

As the crisis hit China early, Ericsson's frontline employees, driven by their sense of responsibility, recognized our collective efforts are of critical importance to the whole community. Our employees all over the world therefore supported and encouraged each other to overcome the challenges of this difficult period. Our employees in China were the first to work remotely at a large scale, and we shared the experience and knowledge accumulated during the fight against the coronavirus with Ericsson in other markets.

A5: The health and safety of our employees remains our top priority. Ericsson was among the first to withdraw from this year's Mobile World Congress Barcelona in February. We aim to provide a positive, healthy and safe work environment and have taken a wide range of protective measures, such as distributing masks to our employees. For employees that are essentially onsite and working with customers, we provide comprehensive protection measures and equipment, as well as mental health support.

Teh-han Chow, interim CEO Greater China of Fonterra

A1: China's national legislature passed the foreign investment law at last year's two sessions, which will provide stronger protection and a better business environment for overseas investors. We hope there will be more policies coming out to help create a fair and transparent environment for all market players.

A2: Like other companies, our business was also affected by the unprecedented trying event. We saw several countries closed borders and the exchange of trade and flow of intellectual exchange were affected. But the resilience of China's economy that we saw in the pandemic has made us more confident of the great potential from the Chinese market. In fact, we just launched a research and development center in Shanghai with a local partner last month. And Fonterra's fifth application center is expected to come up next year in Wuhan to better serve customers and clients in Central and East China.

A3: In our view, where the government has taken initiatives to drive consumption, this has been most beneficial to companies. Examples of this include the progressive return to work, return to school, as well as the consumption festivals. Both national and local governments released preferential policies to revitalize business. Some policies optimize the business environment for enterprises by improving service quality, simplifying processes and reducing time costs. Some reduce or exempt corporate housing rents, defer tax declarations, and grant preferential tax treatment to related enterprises and individuals. Others increase support for enterprises with liquidity difficulties, and strengthen financing guarantee support to increase financial assistance for enterprises.

A4: A key learning from the pandemic for us has been the need to be flexible and adaptable and to be prepared to try new ways of doing things. We have seen this mentality within our own business and in our customers' business. Those that have been able to adapt quickly, have also been able to respond quickly. This is something we need to hold on to and nurture. It's also something we shared with our counterparts in other markets who are now still in the influence of the pandemic.

In terms of changes we've seen, we believe COVID-19 has certainly accelerated the adoption of online shopping and that is likely to result in lasting changes for retailers. In addition, the increased demand for dairy foods will remain at a higher level than pre-COVID-19. 

Lastly, people are now more aware of the importance of health and immunity, which means there will be more focus from the public on provenance and quality of dairy products. After more than 40 years in China, we see it our mission to bring the best quality and goodness of dairy from New Zealand to more Chinese customers and consumers.

A5: While we experienced some downturn during the outbreak, we see positive signs of recovery. Thus, we would expect that our staffing situation would continue as per normal.