BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China, featuring an economy which has shown strong resilience, has been able to maintain a stable development trajectory amid global uncertainties, said a senior executive with Citi, stressing confidence in the country's economic prospects.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Marc Luet, head of Japan, Asia North & Australia Cluster and Banking at Citi, said that China's growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent for 2026 is both reasonable and attainable.
"We think China can deliver that type of growth," Luet said.
Luet noted that China's economy not only demonstrates the ability to withstand external uncertainties, but also builds up new momentum through continuous transformation and upgrading.
He pointed out that the country's 15th Five-Year Plan maintains policy continuity, balancing a focus on technological innovation with stronger emphasis on boosting consumption and safeguarding people's livelihoods.
In the eyes of this executive, China has delivered well on its previous five-year goals.
"There's no reason to believe anything would prevent China from reaching the targets they have set for the new five-year plan. Even recent events in the global economy are not necessarily going to take China off that path. We are confident," he added.
In Luet's view, the large-scale global expansion of Chinese companies, including high-tech firms setting up production bases, R&D centers and data centers overseas, has created vast new opportunities for Citi.
As an international bank with a presence in 94 markets worldwide, Citi in 2025 raised about 40 billion U.S. dollars for its Chinese clients in global markets, he revealed, adding the group is stepping up its support as Chinese firms go global.
Citi provides "a suite of solutions" from capital management, foreign exchange hedging to cross-border financing, and advises Chinese clients on mergers and acquisitions, Luet said.
Regarding Citi's approach in China, Luet explained that after Citi's global strategy realignment of its consumer banking business, Citi is sharpening its focus on corporate and institutional business in China, where Citi is doubling down on supporting large and medium-sized corporations with global ambitions.
"China is the largest business we have in Asia," he said, adding that the bank has not reduced its commitment but instead continues to increase investments in China.
"More and more multinationals now see China not only as a major sales market, but also as a strategic hub for global R&D and high-end manufacturing," Luet said. "Citi is very optimistic about the prospects for multinationals operating in China."
He highlighted that during a recent trip, he met many multinational clients that have moved R&D to China, not only to serve the Chinese market but also to support their global activities.
In November 2025, Citi hosted a large investor summit in east China's Shanghai, attracting more than 3,000 global investors.
Luet told Xinhua that this high-profile event fully demonstrated the importance of the Chinese market and Citi's long-term commitment to serving its clients in China.
"That was a show of commitment to the investments we want to make in China," he said.
As a witness to and participant in the opening up of China's financial sector, Citi has helped a number of multinational corporations pilot cross-border cash pooling for both onshore and offshore currencies, and has taken part in the pilot program to upgrade free trade account functions in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, according to the group.
Luet said Citi is actively applying for securities and futures licenses in China.
"We are applying for the securities license and the futures license because we think we can be an actor in the opening up of financial markets. We want to participate more," he concluded. ■
