China Sees Steady Flow of FDI in January

Official data showed a steady growth of foreign direct investment into China in the month of January as authorities pledged to offer better services and environment for foreign-based companies. As we enter into the second month of the year with no signs of the deadly coronavirus ceasing, this data may vary as of February.

As per data released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the foreign direct investment or FDI increased 4 per cent year on year to 87.57 billion Yuan in January.

Rising 2.2 per cent, the FDI equity inflows stood at 12.68 billion dollars in Jan.

Last month, a total of 3,485 new overseas-based firms were established in the mainland.

Overseas investments high tech industries increased 27.9 percent year-on-year to 31.35 billion Yuan, accounting for 35.8 percent of the total FDI, the data showed.

The high-tech manufacturing sector witnessed an inflow of investments amounting to 8.4 billion Yuan, followed by to high-tech services that surged 45.5 percent to 22.95 billion Yuan.

Investments from the Republic of Korea and Japan surged 157.1 percent and 50.2 percent, respectively, while those from countries along the Belt and Road increased 31.3 percent.

As China is battling the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, officials have also stressed efforts to aide foreign-based enterprises to resume operations.

A MOFCOM circular last week stressed support for large foreign investment projects, calling for coordinated efforts to solve their difficulties and minimize the impacts of the epidemic.