China remains a key global investment destination amid downward economic pressure worldwide, as the nation's burgeoning new economy, driven by cutting-edge technologies, is expected to inject new vitality into the local market, according to top investors.
"China is the only country apart from the United States that can provide a stable social and economic environment for large capital and attractive returns. It will continue to be a country that global capital will look highly upon and beef up their presence there," said Jay Chen, managing partner of CVCapital, an emerging investment bank.
In the first quarter, foreign-funded institutions invested at least 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) in bulking real estate on the Chinese mainland. Firms including UBS and Morgan Stanley have also increased their proportion of joint ventures in China in the past few months, he noted.
"Foreign capital is frequently flowing into China in the first several months of this year despite challenges from slowing GDP growth and decreased dividends brought by population and the mobile internet," he said, predicting that a total of $70 billion to $120 billion will flow to the A-share market this year.
With the implementation of China's Foreign Investment Law, Chen said that the country is opening wider to foreign investors and surely even more international capital will enter China.
Chen made the remarks at the 13th ChinaVenture Investment Conference Summit, which ended on Friday, where top executives from leading securities, venture capital and private equity firms also had high expectations regarding the country's emerging power in the new economy.
"China is also one of the rare countries that has gained momentum in the new economy. Seen from an investment perspective, it is a sector that will surely get high returns in the next 10 years," said Zhang Xiangyang, chairman of the private equity subsidiary of Haitong Securities, an A-share listed brokerage.
The new economy, referring to new industries and business forms in the technology-driven era, has become a main driver of China's economy. The output of the new economy accounted for 15.7 percent of China's GDP in 2017, up 0.4 percentage points year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said late last year.
Gu Yechi, investment head of China Life Investment Holding Co Ltd, agreed, saying that a string of new technologies including 5G, artificial intelligence and new energy-related technology are developing rapidly in the country.
"Notably, they are not just in laboratories. They are gradually being commercialized here in China and have created huge convenience and value. Therefore, huge investment opportunities are in store with these technologies," he said.
