1970-01-01 08:33:27
China attracted $25.3 billion in realized foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first five months of this year, up 9.87 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
Experts predicted FDI to China, in particular to service sectors, will continue to grow in the coming months.
Although the period of rapid FDI growth ended for China in 2004, foreign investment will remain at a high level this year, said Shen Danyang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
He said service industries are likely to draw more capital from abroad as Beijing is encouraging foreign investors to tap this and high value-added manufacturing sectors.
The commerce ministry approved 15,072 overseas-invested enterprises in January through May, down 3.75 percent from the previous year. Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands and Japan ranked the top three FDI sources for the mainland.
The figures released by the ministry do not include investments in the financial sector, such as banking, insurance and securities. Neither did the ministry give the amount of contracted investment, as opposed to the ones realized.
FDI to the country stood at $4.9 billion in May alone, reflecting an increase of 8.65 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.
Source: China Daily