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China's September FDI growth cools

FOREIGN direct investment in China rose 7.88 percent from a year earlier to US$9 billion in September, cooling further amid the deteriorating debt crisis in the United States and the eurozone.

The pace last month eased from 11.1 percent in August and 19.8 percent in July, the Ministry of Commerce said today.

"Investors around the world are increasingly wary of new investment amid uncertainties in the global economy, and China's new FDI mainly comes from countries in Asia, rather than from the Europe and the US as before," said Shen Danyang, a spokesman at the ministry.

According to ministry data, investment from the US shed 9.88 percent from a year earlier in the first three quarters, while the 27-country European Union also cut their investment to China by 1.8 percent, reversing a previous long streak of continued growth.

In comparison, investment from Asian countries jumped 23.66 percent year-on-year between January and September, far exceeding China's overall FDI rate of 16.6 percent in the first nine months.

However, Xu Weihong, an analyst at Guodu Securities Co, said the worsening crisis in some developed countries might offer China new opportunities to solidify its position as a good destination for foreign investment.

"The temporary slowdown in foreign investment need not cause overreaction because it is natural when the gloomy economic outlook prevails," Xu said. "But China should take the opportunity to prove itself a good choice for investors. Thus when the markets recover, it will gain an advantage to win more investment."

Commerce Minister Chen Deming said last month that China's foreign investment environment would stay competitive in the longer term because of good infrastructure and rich labor resources, although the country faced new challenges like higher labor costs.
Chen said China would continue to its improve investment environment, including assuring equal treatment for foreign companies and expanding areas that allow foreign investment.

Meanwhile, China's non-financial outbound foreign direct investment increased 12.5 percent year on year to US$40.7 billion, keeping a steady expansion pace when the country carries out its "going global" strategy.



 

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