Foreign Investment Flows into China Shrink 19.9% in January-February
15:26 JST, March 23, 2024
BEIJING (Reuters) – Foreign investment flows into China shrank 19.9% in January-February from a year earlier to 215.1 billion yuan ($30 billion), data from the commerce ministry showed on Friday, even as the government gears up to woo foreign firms.
China’s cabinet on Tuesday unveiled new steps to arrest a slowdown in foreign investment, including expanding market access and relaxing some rules.
Overseas firms have turned sour on China since it enacted ultra-strict COVID curbs during the pandemic then suddenly abandoned them in late 2022, with concerns over the business environment, a shaky economic recovery and rising geopolitical tensions with the West weighing on confidence.
A series of prolonged regulatory crackdowns on sectors from technology to education have also rattled domestic and foreign investors, adding to unease over policy transparency in China.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last year that American businesses had told her that China was becoming “uninvestible.”
In 2023, foreign direct investment into China shank 8% year-on-year.
Of the foreign investment in the first two months, 71.44 billion yuan, or a third of the total, went into China’s high-tech industries, including high-tech manufacturing, the ministry said.
Foreign investment in China’s construction sector rose 43.6% year-on-year, while investment in wholesale and retail industries grew 14.5%, it added.
($1 = 7.2270 Chinese yuan)
"News Services" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Dollar Edges Lower, Yen at 34-year Trough
-
A Strong Earthquake Shakes Taiwan, Damaging Buildings and Causing a Tsunami
-
Taiwan’s Strongest Earthquake in 25 Years Kills Seven, Traps 77 (UPDATE 2)
-
Iranian Consulate in Damascus Flattened in Suspected Israeli Air Strike
-
Japan’s Nikkei Climbs 1.5% as Investors Scoop Up Beaten-Down Stocks (Update 1)
JN ACCESS RANKING
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- U.S. 7th Fleet officer Arrested on Suspicion of Stealing Sushi, Sashimi, Chicken at Kanagawa Shopping Mall; Suspect Caught Mid-Meal
- UNRWA Director Describes Catastrophic Destruction in Gaza; Says Relief Trucks Robbed, ‘People’s Hearts Destroyed’