Actualized foreign direct investment (FDI) in China this year
will probably be the same as last year at around US$60.3 billion,
Xinhua learned from the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
The preliminary statistics did not include investment in the
banking, securities and insurance sectors. Last year, China saw a
slight decline of 0.5 percent in its FDI.
Sources with the Ministry of Commerce said China was facing
increasingly fierce international competition for foreign
investment.
In the year to November, contractual foreign capital totaled
US$167.46 billion, up only 0.15 percent from the same period last
year, while the amount of foreign capital actually used was
US$54.26 billion, up 2.14 percent.
The ministry said China would continue to be the top destination
for foreign investment among developing countries, but the annual
increment would stay around US$60 billion in the next five
years.
Experts warned a drastic rise was unlikely because production
costs in China were rising as a result of stricter requirements on
environmental protection and higher salary levels.
They argued the government could take advantage of the steady
growth period to channel more foreign direct investment into the
higher value-added technology-intensive and service sectors.
In the year to October, foreign capital used by service
industries, including real estate, information technology,
distribution, tourism, and architecture, surged 14.63 percent year
on year to US$10.94 billion while that by manufacturing industries
declined 6.81 percent to US$34.01 billion.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2006)