Leading foreign firms realize that the Chinese market is not only big but also a source of innovation and knowledge, said Tomas Casas Klett, director of the China Competence Center at the University of St. Gallen.

China is a driver of global economic growth "because it's an enormous economy, the second largest in the world," Casas Klett told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 53rd St. Gallen Symposium.