The nation received $61.67 billion of foreign capital for the
first 11 months this year, up 13.66 percent compared with the same
period last year, the commerce ministry said yesterday.
The government approved over 34,000 foreign-invested enterprises
during the same period, down by 7.02 percent.
China adjusted its foreign investment policy at the beginning of
this month.
Under new guidelines, China will further open the service and
hi-tech industries and tighten the control on energy-consuming
sectors.
A new directive for the first time allows foreign investment in
the futures market, grid construction and operation. It also
encourages foreign capital in service outsourcing and logistics
sectors.
China will continue to provide favorable tax policies to
encourage foreign investment in certain sectors, Vice-Minister of
Commerce Ma Xiuhong, said.
"China will keep its foreign investment policy stable and
continuous," Ma said.
"So that foreign investment will continue to play an active role
in China's innovation, help upgrade industries and boost the
development of different regions."
However, foreign investment in some export-driven industries
will no longer be encouraged under the new policy, according to a
spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC).
"We will no longer run the export-driven policies as we are
faced with new situations such as a tremendous trade surplus and
fast increase in foreign reserves," the NDRC spokesman said
yesterday.
High profile government officials recently reiterated China's
policy of opening up to foreign investment. Vice-Premier Wu Yi said earlier this week that China would
not change its stance in expanding the use of foreign capital.
"China's door has been and will be resolutely open to the
outside world," she said during the opening ceremony of the 18th
Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, on Tuesday.
China received $69 billion in foreign direct investment in
2006.
It was the world's third-largest FDI recipient after the US and
UK, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development.
(China Daily December 14, 2007)
