Foreign investors still believe in China
Print Edition
FOREIGN direct investment returned to growth last month, with the Ministry of Commerce saying this indicated unshaken confidence among foreign investors despite an underperforming economy.
It grew 3.4 percent from a year earlier to US$8.7 billion in April, reversing March’s decline of 1.5 percent.
In the first four months, China has attracted US$40.3 billion in foreign investment, up 5 percent year on year.
Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said foreign direct investment was stable on the whole, and its renewed growth reinforced the view that China remained an important destination for foreign investors.
“China’s stable economic and social status, great market potential, skillful human resources and good support facilities strengthen its comprehensive competitiveness and makes the nation a popular destination for foreign investment,” Shen said.
Zhou Hao, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Bank, said that while China’s first-quarter growth had slowed, foreign investors remained confident about China’s economy as it was still a star performer compared with other countries.
China’s gross domestic product grew 7.4 percent in the January-March period, the slowest in 18 months.
The government recently announced an array of policies to support growth and create jobs.
“China is gearing up to raise both the speed and quality of its growth,” said Shi Lei, an economics professor at Fudan University. “That helps to bolster long-term confidence among investors.”
Foreign investment flowing into China’s service sector gained 19.1 percent to US$22.5 billion in the first four months, making up 55.8 percent of the overall basket. In comparison, the manufacturing sector drew US$14.5 billion, down 11.4 percent on an annual basis.
Meanwhile, China’s outbound direct investment fell 12.9 percent to US$25.6 billion in the first four months.
The decrease was mainly due to the high comparative base last year when China completed several huge projects including China National Offshore Oil Corp’s US$14.8 billion purchase of Canadian Nexen Inc, Shen said.
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