BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland hit a record high to reach 144 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, while global FDI declined for the second consecutive year, according to the report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on January 16 had released the data that the country hit a record high to utilize a total foreign investment of 877.56 billion yuan (138.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, up 7.9 percent year on year.
In 2018, China is becoming a good destination for foreign investors and injecting the stronger power of China into the global economy, with better investment environment and opening-up market.
-- Bright prospect of China's economy
Recently, a growing number of foreign investors have intensified cooperation with Chinese enterprises in the field of new energy vehicle sector. The US-based Tyco Electronics has taken an active part in the development of components and parts of a China-made new energy vehicle. Most of these parts have been manufactured in China.
"The high-quality development of China's economy and China's greater attention to environmental protection show the huge potential of new energy vehicles in China; many Chinese brands have started to develop high-end automotive products, creating more cooperation opportunities for foreign enterprises," said Li Wanxiang, senior director with Tyco Electronics.
In 2017, the added-value of strategic emerging industries in China was up 11 percent from 2016, 4.4 percentage higher than the growth of above-scale industries; the output of industrial robots and new energy vehicles was up 68.1 percent and 51.1 percent year on year respectively, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In 2017, China’s strategic emerging industries, high-tech industries and other emerging industries maintained rapid growth, and new driving forces became the important impetus for stable economic growth, Dong Lihua, senior official with the NBS said. China will remain appealing to foreign investors in the future. Fast-growing and opportunity-generating domestic sectors and industries can attract sufficient foreign investment.
The top three industries attracting foreign investment are manufacturing, real estate (over 20 percent) and finance (over 10 percent).
--Ever-improved investment environment
In January, 2018, PwC had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the People's Government of Huangpu District, Shanghai for building an innovative international industrial platform.
In the government-enterprise cooperation, the People's Government of Huangpu District will support and join the development of foreign exchange channels and fields, and provide a better international technical exchange, cooperation and transfer platform for entrepreneurs, experts, scholars and world-renowned enterprises in global innovation.
To intensify foreign investment attraction, the Ministry of Commerce will reduce market access restrictions in an orderly way, safeguard foreign investors' lawful rights and interests, optimize the regional layout of foreign investment, and grant autonomy and the right of early and pilot practice for pilot free trade zone reform to the greatest extent.
Constantly building, optimizing and improving investment environment to attract foreign investment is conducive to the transformation and upgrading of China's economy and China's new-round reform and opening-up, said Zhang Jianping, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, MOC.
-Ever-upgraded reform and opening-up
The 2017 Central Economic Work Conference called for efforts to create a new layout for all-round opening.
In 2017, 6,841 foreign-invested enterprises were established in the 11 pilot free zones in China, of which 99.2 percent were established through filing. These zones actually utilized a total foreign investment of 103.9 billion yuan, up 18.1 percent year on year, 10 percentage higher than the growth of China's total actually utilized foreign investment.
China should continue to promote all-round opening to the outside world, strengthen connection with international economic and trade rules, enormously relax market access, open the service industry, especially finance sector wider to the outside world, and create appealing investment environment, according to Liu He, director of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs at the Davos World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2018 on January 24.
Over the 15 years, China will further open its market and is expected to import commodities worth 24 trillion U.S. dollars, attract a total foreign direct investment of 2 trillion U.S. dollars, and achieve a total outbound investment of 2 trillion U.S. dollars.
Innovation and opening-up will further make their ways into all aspects of China's economy, constantly release growth momentum and inject new vitality into the global economy, said Quan Heng, director of the Institute of World Economy of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. (Edited by Ma Xin, maxin11@xinhua.org)
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