About 70% of foreign-invested companies upbeat about China's market potential: official

More foreign-invested companies surveyed by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in the fourth quarter of 2023 said they were satisfied with China's business environment, Yang Fan, spokesperson for the CCPIT, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

In terms of market expectations, nearly 70 percent of foreign enterprises are positive about China's market performance over the next five years, up 1.8 percentage points compared with the previous quarter, Yang said.

More than 90 percent of foreign enterprises said that they believe China's market attractiveness will continue to increase or remain at the current levels, the official said.

During recent years, China has been committed to high-level opening-up and supports building an open and integrated global economy despite rising protectionism and unilateralism as well as geopolitical tensions.

In July 2023, China has issued a 24-point guidelines designated to improve the climate for foreign investment and attract more overseas capital.

In 2023, actual foreign direct investment hit more than 1.13 trillion yuan ($160 billion), down 8 percent year-on-year. However, the value remains at a high level - the third highest in recent years, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) showed.

In addition, the structure of foreign investment in China continues to improve, with FDI into the country's high-tech sector accounting for 37.4 percent of the total foreign investment in 2023, up 1.3 percentage points compared with the previous year, which hit a new record high.

The FDI from developed countries including Canada, the UK and France reposted notable increase, official data showed.

With the launch of the "Year of Investing in China" campaign in 2023, MOFCOM will continue to promote "Investing in China" in 2024, planning to hold more than 20 promotional events, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said at a press conference on Friday.