China's appeal for German corporations will continue as foreign investors step up efforts to localize their businesses and gain a bigger foothold in the Chinese market, according to Jens Hildebrandt, Executive Director and Board Member for North China at the German Chamber of Commerce in China.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), the German executive reported that around 91 percent of German companies are very committed to the Chinese market and around 50 percent of them will keep investing in the Chinese market.

German direct investment in China increased by 4.3 percent to a record high of 11.9 billion euros (about 12.9 billion U.S. dollars) last year, constituting a larger share of the country's overall investment abroad, according to media reports.

"The main reason to invest is for localization and companies trying to get a stronger foothold into the Chinese market. It's one part of also risk management for German companies to localize here more in China and to make their Chinese entity more resilient," he explained.

While Hildebrandt welcomed recent measures for foreign businesses implemented by Chinese authorities, he called for bigger steps in China’s reform and opening-up.

"We very much like this comprehensive list of 24 measures that has been compiled. And we've seen, and of course we also talked to MOFCOM (Ministry of Commerce), we've seen that there have been things that have been implemented that in the daily business work for German companies have actually had a positive effect. However, I think to really build confidence is really to focus on the big items, for example market entry. I think it needs bigger steps that have an overall impact onto many industries, that would help to build confidence. I think the real effect will be taken if China continues reform and opening up, as China always says, with meaningful steps in the right direction," he said.