Foreign investors remain optimistic about the opportunities in the Chinese market as the country continues to improve its investment environment.
In January, 4,588 new foreign-invested firms were established across China, up 74.4 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.
According to the latest survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, around 50 percent of surveyed companies identify China as a top three investment destination – a five percentage point improvement from 2023. Surveys of European companies also show their keen interest in the Chinese market.
Against the backdrop of sluggish cross-border investment globally, China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) has seen robust growth in recent years. China became the world’s largest recipient of FDI in 2020 amid a global slump and the growth trend continued through 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, China’s actual FDI reached over 1.13 trillion yuan (about $158.89 billion), data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. Although the figure dropped 8 percent compared to 2022, it was still the third highest in history. In addition, the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China rose to 53,766 last year, a 39.7 percent year-on-year increase.
An executive meeting of China’s State Council on Friday stressed that stabilizing foreign investment will be a focus of this year’s economic work and urged efforts to widen market access, level the playing field further, and smooth the flow of innovation factors.
The meeting also emphasized the need to shore up foreign investor confidence in developing businesses in China and to boost the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation.
Optimizing the business environment has become the consensus of local governments to promote economic development, according to topics of their first meetings after the Spring Festival. Recently, Shanghai and eastern provinces like Zhejiang and Fujian have introduced specific measures to attract foreign investment.
In August 2023, China issued guidelines to attract foreign investment by further optimizing the investment environment. Under the guidelines, 24 points across six aspects were put forward, such as improving the quality of foreign capital utilization, and strengthening the protection of foreign investment.
Speaking during a press conference in January, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said over 60 percent of the measures listed in the guidelines have been put into force or their implementation has seen progress, and the feedback from more than 90 percent of the foreign-funded enterprises has been positive.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Commerce said it will continue to give full play to the role of its roundtable meeting system for foreign-funded enterprises this year. Established in July 2023, the system aims to improve communication between government departments, foreign-funded enterprises and foreign business associations by holding roundtable discussions.
By the end of January, the ministry held 16 roundtables. More than 400 foreign-funded enterprises and foreign-funded business associations have attended these meetings, solving more than 300 issues highlighted at the meetings.
Meanwhile, a provincial-level roundtable meeting system had also been established, with more than 140 roundtables having been held so far. Over 2,200 foreign-funded enterprises and foreign business associations have participated in these meetings, with more than 900 issues resolved.
Last month, China put into effect a set of measures to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals into the country for business, education and tourism. The new measures include a relaxation of port visa application requirements and access to visa extension, replacement, and issuance services at local immigration departments.