Reform measures maintain nation's attractiveness
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China approached 584.74 billion yuan ($92.39 billion) in the first nine months of this year, up 9 percent year-on-year, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) showed on Monday.
The MOFCOM said that China is maintaining good momentum in attracting foreign investment and the rebound in FDI was closely related to comprehensive government measures to deepen reform and opening-up and create a better business environment.
The total number of foreign companies seeking to invest in China reached 18,980 from January to September, up 10.1 percent, according to the MOFCOM, which also said that the number of new foreign companies rose 5.2 percent to 2,153 in September.
"The FDI growth reflects the fact that foreign companies are looking at China's investment prospects, even though the economic downturn pressure has intensified and foreign exchange reserves have decreased," Zhuang Jian, a senior economist with the Asian Development Bank, told the Global Times on Monday.
There could be some short-term fluctuations, but FDI inflows will stay steady over the long run, Zhuang said.
Foreign investment in the advanced sectors of the service and manufacturing industries kept rising in the first nine months, with FDI in the high-tech services industry growing 57.6 percent to $6.16 billion, which accounted for 17.1 percent of FDI in the services sector, according to the MOFCOM.
Data released by the MOFCOM in September showed that FDI rose 9.2 percent in the first eight months to 525.28 billion yuan. In August, FDI stood at 54.2 billion yuan, up 22 percent over the comparable period.
FDI inflows into China reached $129 billion in 2014, the first time that China was the world's largest recipient of foreign capital, according to the World Investment Report 2015 released in June by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
The report showed that multinational companies perceived China as the first place among the target economies where they could see sound investment prospects during the period from 2015 to 2017.
China's economic growth still leads the world, which means the domestic market can offer lots of investment opportunities for foreign companies, Zhuang said.
Zhuang noted that the investment environment and returns in China's emerging industries and in the upgrading of traditional industries are better than those in other developing countries.
The government should let the market play a greater role and encourage technological innovation by domestic firms to attract foreign capital, Zhuang said.
