MILAN, Dec 2 Reuters Breakingviews Beijings antiCovid rules have triggered the biggest domestic protests since the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989. While the Chinese government looks set to ease some health measures, the episode has got Western corporate boards pondering what to do in case of an escalation. Yet companies red lines on China are out of their hands.

Undeterred by growing geopolitical tensions and slowing Chinese growth, several Western companies have this year intensified the rate at which they bet on the Peoples Republic. Foreign direct investments by German carmakers, which last year represented about 40 of all European Union investments into China, reached 4.6 billion euros by the end of September 2022. Thats 42 higher than those for the whole of 2021 and the biggest amount in a year since 2000, Rhodium Group data show. In recent years, most European inflows have come from a handful of big companies.

The upshot is stark. Volkswagen, General Motors, Toyota Motor and Tesla derived between 20 and 40 of their global sales from China last year, according to Goldman Sachs analysts. At 10.2, their average net profit margins in China were significantly above the 7.7 recorded at group level. Luxury giants including LVMH and Kering, which collectively made 21 of their global sales in China last year, opened 55 of all new global stores in the Middle Kingdom. China is forecast to become the worlds largest bling market by 2025.

All this creates an obvious…