China's steady recovery from COVID-19 and ongoing economic upgrades have provided clear growth opportunities for Sandpiper, boosting its confidence in expanding investment in the country, said the head of the Asia-Pacific-focused strategic communications and public affairs consultancy.

"It is very difficult to run a great Asia-Pacific communications business without a big business in China. It's just impossible," said Emma Smith, CEO of Sandpiper, which is based in Singapore.

Despite lingering geopolitical tensions that have ignited discussions about whether China can retain its attractiveness among foreign businesses, Smith told China Daily she is "very excited" about the market potential in China and is expanding Sandpiper's investment in the country.

"We see the potential for our business in China to be absolutely huge," Smith said, adding that Sandpiper has nearly doubled the number of employees in Beijing over the past year and is working to expand its team in Shanghai as well.

The transition of China's economy from a manufacturing powerhouse into a more knowledge-based, intelligence-driven economy is bringing numerous business opportunities for Sandpiper in such fields as financial services, technology, healthcare and environmental protection, she said.

This long-term trend has enjoyed a boost as China recovers from COVID-19. After the nation optimized its pandemic response measures, Smith said she has seen clients expanding their investment in China alongside huge demand from clients for consultancy work to help them understand Beijing's latest policy directions.

She made the remarks after China reported stronger-than-expected economic results for the first quarter. January-March GDP growth rebounded to 4.5 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

Smith is not the only global executive to express optimism about China's economy following the data release. Investment banks UBS and JPMorgan have raised their full-year forecasts for China's economic growth to 5.7 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.

She said it is wonderful to see China pushing ahead with its high-level opening-up agenda, which has created a "dual carriageway" that enables both multinational corporations to expand in China and Chinese companies to go global.

This process has brought about plenty of opportunities for Sandpiper, she said, as the company has expertise in helping both MNCs in China and Chinese companies looking for overseas expansion navigate local markets, manage their images and build their brands.

Smith added that she expects the use of artificial intelligence tools to make a big difference to Sandpiper's operations in China in the coming decade, which will replace some menial tasks such as data collection, but give the team more opportunity to draw insights from the information and give advice to clients accordingly.

"I don't think AI will take over our jobs. I think people who really understand how to use AI will have great opportunities in the future," Smith said, adding that a key objective of her job as CEO is to ensure that her team is trained properly on how to master AI tools with full awareness of the pros and cons of using them.