China still has comprehensive advantages in attracting foreign investment despite downward pressure on the economy and fierce global competition, a senior commerce ministry official said Tuesday.
A stable growing domestic market, increasingly integrated industrial chain, comprehensive competitiveness and deep integration in global and regional economic cooperation make China a sound prospective investment destination, Wang Shouwen, assistant minister of commerce, said at a work conference on foreign investment held in Beijing.
In 2014, China for the first time ranked No.1 worldwide in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $128.5 billion. The FDI into the country continued to grow and amounted to $34.88 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Wang said China will institute the Foreign Investment Law, speed up reform of the approval system for foreign investment and promote experiences gained in the country's free trade zones to more areas in 2015.
The ministry released the draft of the Foreign Investment Law to solicit public opinions in January. The law is aimed at easing restrictions on foreign investors and granting them easier access.
China's economic growth slowed to 7.0 percent in the first quarter of this year, mainly dragged down by weakening investment and foreign trade. China's foreign trade volume posted a 6 percent decrease in the first three months, far from the government's annual growth target of 6 percent.
The ministry forecast in a report released Tuesday that China's foreign trade will maintain low-to-medium speed growth for a certain period in the future, mainly due to sluggish external demand and weakening traditional competitiveness such as low labor costs.
