BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- An increasing number of multinational enterprises in automobile, finance, energy, chemical and other industries are making investment in China on the introduction of the country’s further opening-up policies.
China became the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2018, attracting investment inflow of 70 billion U.S. dollars, according to the latest investment trends monitor published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
In recent years, China has continuously quickened the pace of opening up by removing two-thirds of restricted measures on foreign investment and introducing a series of incentive policies, which boost growing enthusiasm of foreign enterprises to make investment in China.
For example, at the end of April, the Arab Bank Jordan decided to set up a branch in Shanghai. France's Oney Bank and China’s Bright Food Group signed an investment agreement to jointly establish a consumer finance company, which will be the first consumer finance company set up by a developed country-based company in China.
In May, the Japanese Nomura Holdings Co., Ltd. submitted an application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for the establishment of a foreign-invested securities company with proposed holding of 51-percent stake in the company. The German Allianz Group decided to establish a wholly-owned insurance subsidiary in Shanghai.
In June, China unveiled a shortened negative list for foreign investment, which widened market access for foreign investment and detailed a timetable for opening-up in the automobile and finance sectors.
After entering the second half of the year, foreign investment in China continued to increase.
In July, BASF Group, the world's largest chemical company, decided to invest 10 billion euros to build a wholly-owned fine chemical integration base in China. US new energy giant Tesla also planned to build a factory plant in Shanghai, with an estimated investment of over 14 million yuan.
Data of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed that China's actual use of FDI grew 6.1 percent to 86.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2018, and the number of newly-established overseas-funded companies surged 102.7 percent from a year earlier to 41,331.
On October 11, the German car giant BMW announced to invest more than 3 billion euros in new and existing plant structures in Shenyang over the coming years.
On the evening of the same day, Brilliance-Auto announced to sell its 25 percent stake to BMW at a price of 29 billion yuan. Upon completion of the transaction, BMW will hold a 75-percent stake in BMW Brilliance.
It is worth noting that a number of enterprises in the Netherlands also show their optimistic attitude towards investment in China.
On October 17, the Dutch battery manufacturer Vaux decided to invest 1.85 billion U.S. dollars in China to launch a new energy lithium battery project and set a R&D base in the Yangtze River Delta area.
The Royal Dutch Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) also signed an agreement to build a three-phase project in China with total investment of more than one billion U.S. dollars.
KLM and China Xiamen Airlines signed a memorandum to upgrade the cooperation in aircraft maintenance with project value of 2.8 billion yuan.
ING Group and Bank of Beijing signed a cooperation agreement to establish a joint venture bank in China with total investment amount of 3 billion yuan.
(Edited by Wu Shuang, wushuang2018@xinhua.org)
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