China has cut the number of sectors and businesses that are off-limits for both domestic and foreign investors in its 2019 version of negative list for market access, the country's central authorities said on November 22. The shortened list contains 131 administrative measures on investment, down 20 administrative measures or 13 percent from the 2018 version released last December, according to the list jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission on November 22. (Xinhua)
China continues to see an uptrend in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow as investors remain bullish on tapping into a huge market with growing ease of doing business.
The data released from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on November 18 showed that FDI into the Chinese mainland expanded 6.6 percent year-on-year to 752.41 billion yuan ($107.4 billion) in the first 10 months of the year.
October saw China's year-on-year FDI growth almost double that of September. The 7.4-percent rise would be enviable given the significant uncertainties that could impact the scale and contours of FDI in 2019 and 2020.
According to the latest Global Investment Trends Monitor report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global economic growth has fallen and growth forecasts have continued to be revised downwards over the past year. Geopolitical risks, trade tensions and concerns about a shift towards more protectionist policies have further weakened business confidence.
Commenting on the highlights of the data on November 18, MOC official Zong Changqing said China's FDI inflow had been stable and featured more major projects as well as improved structure in the January-October period.
"More than 1,300 major projects with investment of more than $50 million have been launched this year, up 5.4 percent from the same period last year," Zong said. "Implementation of projects above the 10-billion-dollar mark, such as those with BASF, ExxonMobil and Tesla, are speeding up."
The data showed that a total of 33,407 new foreign-funded enterprises were established in the first 10 months. Foreign investment in China's high-tech industries surged 39.5 percent year-on-year to 222.4 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total FDI.
"The Chinese economy's high-quality development requires foreign investment to play a bigger role in research and development, technology, capital and human resources," said Hao Hongmei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the ministry quoted by the 21st Century Business Herald. "This is where the new round of foreign investment policies can be highly instrumental."
According to the latest World Bank report, China's ease of doing business ranking rose to 31 this year from 46 last year, and it is also among the ten economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business after implementing regulatory reforms.