1970-01-01 08:33:27
China has grown into an important source for the world's foreign investment; and Hong Kong claims the largest outbound investment among developing economies, according to the 2007 World Investment Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), released in Beijing recently.
In 2006, the world saw $1.3 trillion US dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI), increasing by 38 percent from the previous year, according to the report. Foreign investment reserves stood at $12 trillion dollars worldwide. Outgoing investment from transnational corporations of developing countries and regions grew. Outbound investment from China's Hong Kong was $43.5 billion dollars, ranking the first among developing economies. Outbound investment from Russia ranked first among economies experiencing a transformation period, followed by China.
However, according to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce released in late September, China, with an outbound investment of $21.2 billion dollars, has surpassed Russia to rank first among economies in the transformation period, and ranked 17th in the world. In 2006, China attracted $69 billion dollars in foreign capital. Foreign companies' subsidiaries in China employed 24 million people-the largest amount in the world. Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa was the largest outbound investment enterprise amongst developing regions.
According to the report, transnational corporations are still optimistic about the global growth of foreign direct investment. The most attractive investment destinations are China and India, and Viet Nam ranked the sixth. Risks affecting growth include unstable financial markets worldwide, unbalanced regular accounts, and high crude oil prices.
By People's Daily Online