(Economic Observer) Why does foreign investment continue to "build up" China?
China News Service, Beijing, August 25 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) Despite the uncertain global economic outlook, foreign capital inflows into China this year are still growing at a rate of more than 10%.
According to official data, in the first seven months of this year, China's actual use of foreign capital was 798.33 billion yuan, an increase of 17.3% year-on-year on a comparable basis, and the growth rate was basically the same as that in the first half of the year.
In dollar terms, the growth rate was even higher, at 21.5%.
This growth rate was achieved on the basis of a relatively high base in the same period last year, which is even more rare.
In the first seven months, investment in China from many developed economies has grown substantially.
Among them, South Korea's investment in China increased by 44.5% year-on-year, and the investment in China from the United States, Japan and Germany also increased by 36.3%, 26.9% and 23.5% respectively.
The main reason why the enthusiasm of foreign companies to invest in China has not decreased but increased is that the Chinese economy has maintained stable growth.
According to official data, in July, China's industrial added value above designated size, service industry production index, import and export, total retail sales of consumer goods, fixed asset investment and other important economic indicators maintained growth, and consumer prices rose only 2.7% year-on-year, while Inflation rates in Europe and the United States frequently exceed 7%.
With the current epidemic, Russia-Ukraine conflict and other factors causing the world economic growth to slow down, many countries are even caught in the energy and food crisis, the overall stability of the Chinese economy and the continued recovery of development is itself the biggest attraction for foreign companies.
As China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said on the 25th, China's comprehensive industrial system, super-large market, stable social situation, and long-term positive economic fundamentals have created opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises to develop in China. good foundation.
The continuous improvement of China's business environment is also one of the reasons for the increase in foreign investment in China.
This year, China implemented a new version of the negative list for foreign investment access across the country and pilot free trade zones, further relaxing restrictions on foreign investment.
In addition, the government has also established a multilingual information service mechanism for epidemic prevention and control, and a rapid response mechanism to respond to the epidemic to help foreign companies affected by the epidemic resume normal production and operation.
A survey recently released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade showed that in the second quarter, nearly 90% of foreign-funded enterprises were "satisfied" with the acquisition of business premises, tax payment and market access; The anti-epidemic assistance policies for enterprises and the “green channel” policy for major foreign-funded projects are highly satisfied.
Although the current data is dazzling, there are also hidden concerns about China's absorption of foreign investment.
Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that if some multinational companies occupying an important position in the global industrial chain and supply chain withdraw from China for various reasons in the future, they will have a negative impact on China's related products. The impact of the supply chain cannot be underestimated.
Analysts believe that to further enhance its attractiveness to investors, China needs to create more conditions for foreign companies to "dare to invest" and "able to invest."
"Dare to invest" means boosting the expectations of foreign companies, making them feel that investing in China is safer and more profitable.
As more and more multinational companies begin to take security as the primary consideration for investment, China needs to adhere to opening up, strengthen economic and trade exchanges with the international community, and at the same time adopt effective policies to consolidate the foundation for economic recovery and promote the further expansion of the domestic market.
"Being able to invest" is to solve the pain points of foreign companies' production and operation in China.
According to the research conducted by the CCPIT, the current demands of foreign companies on the Chinese government mainly focus on coordinating epidemic prevention and control and enterprise production and operation, effectively improving the level of government services and work efficiency, and improving the convenience of foreign business personnel to work in China.
This concerns the confidence of foreign companies in China and will directly affect the plans of potential investors.
Recently, Chinese officials have made it clear that they will take practical and effective measures to boost the expectations of foreign-funded enterprises, stabilize the existing foreign investment, make great efforts to attract new foreign investment, improve the stability of the industrial chain and international competitiveness, and take practical actions. Enhance the confidence of foreign-funded enterprises.
China's Ministry of Commerce also stated that it will speed up the revision and release of special policies such as the "Catalogue of Industries Encouraged for Foreign Investment" and "Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment in Listed Companies by Foreign Investors" to increase investment promotion.
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