This undated file photo shows the factory of Japanese firm Rexxam Co., Ltd. in Baoshan City, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua)
BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- A number of major foreign investment projects have been steadily advancing since the beginning of this year, as China has stepped up policy support to stabilize foreign investment.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently announced plans to launch a new batch of major foreign investment projects in due course, update the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment, and intensify efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment.
-- China's market remains attractive
Recently, the Nidec Qingdao Industrial Park, located in the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, officially went into operation. As a key project in Qingdao, it is jointly founded and built by Japan's Nidec Corporation, a global leader in the motor industry, and Qingdao Shanghe Holding Development Group. It has an annual production capacity of 18 million motors and 20 million electronic control units.
Since the opening of the first factory in Dalian City of northeast China's Liaoning Province in 1992, to the launch of the Nidec Qingdao Industrial Park, Nidec shows its firm confidence in the Chinese market, said Nidec's CEO Shigenobu Nagamori.
Recently, the Weidmann (Wuhan) insulation material production project, with a total investment of 91 million U.S. dollars, broke ground in Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, marking the Swiss-based Weidmann Group's first manufacturing base in the region. Covering an area of 58 mu (about 3.87 hectares), the project will include intelligent production workshops, an R&D center, and supporting infrastructure.
-- Foreign investment structure sees major improvement
Foreign-funded enterprises have increasingly focused on advanced manufacturing since the beginning of this year, continuously expanding and deepening their investment in China.
Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that the actually utilized foreign investment in high-tech industries reached 127.87 billion yuan (about 17.55 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year. Among them, the actually utilized foreign investment in e-commerce services, chemical pharmaceutical manufacturing, aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing, and medical instruments and equipment manufacturing increased by 127.1 percent, 53 percent, 36.2 percent, and 17.7 percent, respectively.
Moreover, a report released by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC) shows that from 2013 to 2023, R&D expenditure by multinational corporations (MNCs) in China grew by 86.5 percent. Investment cooperation of MNCs in China has shifted from being market- and cost-driven to being innovation-driven.
Foreign-funded enterprises are moving from "selling in China" and "manufacturing in China" to a new era of "co-creating with China", said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of Hurun Report.
-- Stabilizing existing investment while encouraging new inflow with higher quality
China's high-level opening-up has further boosted the confidence of foreign-funded enterprises in investing in China.
The central government and relevant departments have repeatedly sent out signals indicating efforts to stabilize foreign investment since the start of this year. The 2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment calls for further expanding pilot programs to open up the telecommunications and healthcare sectors, drafting plans to proactively open the education and cultural sectors, and releasing and implementing them in an orderly manner.
Meanwhile, the NDRC and other departments issued the notice on implementing several measures to encourage foreign-invested enterprises to reinvest within China, introducing a range of concrete measures to attract and utilize foreign investment.
These measures aim to stabilize existing investment while encouraging new inflow with higher quality. The next steps will involve launching a new batch of major foreign investment projects, adding more eligible reinvestment projects to list-based management and follow-up services, and opening fast-tracks for project implementation, according to an NDRC official.
(Edited by Yang Linlin with Xinhua Silk Road, linlinyanglyn@163.com)
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