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FDI falls for fifth month in February

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-16 11:51

China's foreign direct investment (FDI) fell for the fifth consecutive month in February to $5.83 billion, down 15.81 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Monday.

The ministry approved the establishment of 1,265 foreign-funded enterprises last month, down 13 percent from a year earlier, MOC spokesman Yao Jian said.

Related readings:  Local govts get nod to okay FDI up to $100m  Commerce ministry eases FDI rules  FDI in Beijing grows despite crisis  NDRC: FDI to hit $92.4 billion

The declines in February, however, were much slower than January's drops, Yao said.

The Chinese government announced a series of measures to stave off domestic impacts of the global financial crisis and boost the confidence of foreign investors to help stabilize foreign investment growth, he said.

Zhao Yumin, an economist with the MOC, shared the same idea but said February figures were not enough to prove the country's foreign investment use growth has ended the downward trend.

The country's FDI dropped 32.7 percent in January while the number of newly approved foreign-funded enterprises was down 48.7 percent from a year earlier.

FDI in China totaled $13.37 billion in the first two months this year, down 26.23 percent from a year earlier, Yao said.

Global FDI inflows declined 21 percent last year to $1.4 trillion because of the negative impacts of the global financial crisis and its economic aftermath, which was likely to further contract in 2009, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

To counter the decline, the MOC said it would give its provincial branches more say on approving overseas projects invested by domestic enterprises. Yao said about 85 percent of these projects would be subject to the approval of provincial commerce authorities instead of the MOC.

However, he didn't give a timetable for the shift.

The MOC last week announced measures to give its local branches more power on approving foreign-funded projects in a bid to further facilitate foreign investment.

Local officials were allowed to approve the establishment of foreign-funded companies with a registered capital of $100 million or below.