FDI into Chinese mainland grows steadily in H1

BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 1.1 percent year on year to 446.29 billion yuan in the first six months of 2018, official data showed Thursday.

In dollar terms, FDI inflow grew 4.1 percent to $68.32 billion in H1, Gao Feng, a spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference.

In June alone, FDI inflow went up 0.3 percent year on year to 100.7 billion yuan.

The number of new overseas-funded companies established in H1 surged 96.6 percent from a year earlier to 29,591, Gao said.

Investment into high-tech industries rose 1.6 percent and accounted for 20.9 percent of the total FDI, with the high-tech manufacturing sector attracting 43.37 billion yuan in overseas investment, up 25.3 percent. FDI into the instrument and apparatus sector jumped 179.6 percent.

In the six-month period, China's 11 pilot free trade zones (FTZs) saw FDI inflow up 32.6 percent to 57.84 billion yuan, with 4,281 new overseas-funded companies established.

Regions in western China used 28.84 billion yuan of overseas investment, up 13.2 percent.

Investment from countries along the Belt and Road surged 24.9 percent, while other major FDI sources also witnessed healthy growth, Gao said.

China has rolled out a number of measures to significantly broaden market access since the beginning of 2018, a year that marks the 40th anniversary of the country's reform and opening-up policy.

In late June, China unveiled a shortened negative list for foreign investment, which cuts the number of items on the list to 48 from 63 in the previous version and detailed 22 opening-up measures in several sectors.