Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China increased 16.1 percent last month, the government said yesterday, with cash infusions from Asian economies and the US showing the steepest rises.
FDI, which excludes investment in financial sectors, totaled US$10.8 billion last month, the commerce ministry said in a statement.
Separately, Chinese overseas investment rose 47.2 percent to US$7.23 billion last month, the ministry said, including a huge increase to Japan, a country with which China is embroiled in a bitter territorial dispute. Investment to Japan soared 500 percent last month from the same month last year, with that to Russia surging 282 percent, the ministry said.
By far the greatest proportion of investment into China comes from a group of 10 Asian countries and regions including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and Singapore.
FDI from those economies rose 22.2 percent to US$9.55 billion, the ministry said.
US investors put US$369 million into the country last month, up 34.9 percent.
“Investment from the 10 Asian countries and regions and the US maintained steady and fast growth,” ministry spokesman Shen Danyang (沈丹陽) said in the statement.
“We expect FDI to maintain a good growth momentum this year,” Shen later told reporters.
Last month’s double-digit increase showed that investors were still confident in China’s economic outlook, he added. Growth was mainly driven by service sector investments, he said.
However, investment from the EU declined sharply, decreasing 41.3 percent to US$482 million.
Of China’s outbound investment, 63.3 percent or US$4.58 billion went to Hong Kong, ASEAN, the EU, Australia, the US, Russia and Japan.
The figures come after foreign investment into China rebounded last year to US$117.59 billion as confidence in the country’s growth potential picked up. It had declined the year before.
Investment by China overseas also rose last year, hitting US$90.17 billion, and officials said it could overtake the incoming total as early as this year.
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