Hexagon is currently building its South China headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province with the goal of making it a flagship for smart manufacturing.

Through its "Smart Manufacturing" and "Smart City" approach, the Swedish company has developed digital solutions that create a closed-loop system from design all the way through to production and operations in China.

Highlighting that accessibility is key - affordable, easy to implement and designed to drive real impact, especially for companies transitioning to digital - Weiss noted that the company is performing well in China.

For instance, the Weifang, Shandong province-based Weichai Holding Group Co Ltd and Shanghai Tobacco Group Co Ltd have transformed their quality management processes using digital systems provided by Hexagon.

"Our growth in China is fueled by several core initiatives. Apart from our "Glocal" strategy, we are concentrating on our industrial software cloud, migrating over 200 software products to boost accessibility and effectiveness for SMEs throughout China," said Weiss.

He said that "Quality for Life" is another of Hexagon's key approaches to developing digital, closed-loop management systems that span the entire lifecycle, from design and manufacturing to quality assurance.

"We are also dedicated to green, low-carbon manufacturing technology, which we see as essential to China's long-term growth," he said, adding that through partnerships within local ecosystems, the company aims to foster innovation that drives the industry forward while supporting sustainable development.

Sun Xiao, secretary-general of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said that driven by China's market size and business model transformation, both domestic and global manufacturers today are keen to invest in newly built innovation centers, expand production capacities and advance digital transformation initiatives within the country.

With the structure of foreign investment continuing to be optimized, China saw the high-tech manufacturing sector utilize 77.12 billion yuan ($10.83 billion) in foreign direct investment in the first three quarters of 2024, accounting for 12 percent of the national total, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

This represents an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the same period last year.