Under the background of the continuous decline of global FDI in recent years, China's use of foreign investment has not risen but has risen against the trend
CCTV News : At the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on the afternoon of March 13, Zong Changqing, Director of the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce, comprehensively analyzed the situation of China's use of foreign investment in recent years when answering questions from reporters. He said that China steadily ranks as the world's second largest attracting power. Although the situation of utilizing foreign capital this year is more complicated and severe, it is confident and capable of accomplishing the goal of stabilizing foreign investment throughout the year.
Zong Changqing first introduced the current situation of foreign investment in China. He said that according to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, in January-February this year, China's actual use of foreign investment was RMB 134.4 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8.6% (US $ 19.42 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 10.4%) . Among them, the actual use of foreign capital in January was 87.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4%; the actual use of foreign investment in February was 46.83 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25.6%. The main reason for absorbing foreign investment from rising to falling was due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, which was superimposed on the Spring Festival holiday, resulting in poor flow of people and logistics, large-scale business shutdowns and production suspensions, limited investment activities, and investors waiting to wait and see.
From a structural point of view , China's absorption of foreign investment in January-February has three positive performances : First, the high-tech industry has maintained growth. From January to February, foreign investment in high-tech industries actually used 41.52 billion yuan, an increase of 2.2% year-on-year. Among them, the actual use of foreign investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical instrument equipment and instrument manufacturing, information services, and e-commerce services increased by 6.7%, 139.7%, 30.5%, and 449.8% year-on-year respectively. Second, outstanding performance of key open platforms. Foreign investment in the Shanghai and Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zones increased by 13% and 12.8%, while Hainan, Fujian, and Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zones increased foreign investment by 230.2%, 149.5%, and 140%. Third, investment from some economies in China has grown steadily. Investment in China by the countries along the “Belt and Road” and ASEAN increased by 9.7% and 15.1%, respectively.
In recent years, China has continued to expand and open up and continue to optimize the business environment. Against the background of the continuous decline in global FDI (note: foreign direct investment), China ’s use of foreign investment has continued to rise without falling, and has risen against the trend, ranking itself as the world ’s second largest investor status. According to UNCTAD statistics, global FDI has fallen for four consecutive years, and in 2019 it has fallen by 31.5% compared to 2015. In 2019, China's full-caliber foreign investment in the fields of banking, securities, and insurance reached US $ 141.2 billion, an increase of 2.1% over the previous year, and its proportion of global FDI increased from 6.7% in 2015 to 10.1% in 2019, an increase of 3.4 Percentage, achieved hard-won achievements.
UNCTAD recently released a report predicting that due to the epidemic, global FDI will decline for the fifth consecutive year this year, with a decline of roughly 5% to 15%. The global FDI cake is shrinking, competition for foreign investment is intensifying, and the downward pressure on the world economy is increasing. This year, the situation of China's use of foreign capital is more complicated and severe. The task of stabilizing foreign investment throughout the year is very difficult.
However, in general, the basic development trend of China's long-term economic improvement will not change, the strong magnetic attraction of China's large market size will not change, and China's comprehensive competitive advantages in terms of industrial support, human resources, and infrastructure will not change. The expectations and confidence of foreign investors for long-term investment and operation in China will not change. Zong Changqing finally emphasized that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, we are confident and capable of overcoming difficulties to achieve the goal of stabilizing foreign investment throughout the year.