Foreign investment in China jumps 5.77%

A man rides a scooter past a foreign luxury billboard near Beijing’s Wangfujing Street. China’s foreign direct investment inflows rose 5.8% in the first 10 months of 2013 from a year ago, extending gains since March and underlining a reviving appetite from global investors as the world’s second-largest economy gained traction.

AFP

Beijing

Foreign investment into China rose 5.77% during the January-October period, the government said yesterday, ahead of a China-EU summit where the two are expected to start talks on a key investment treaty.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China, which excludes financial sectors, totalled $97bn in the first 10 months of the year, the ministry of commerce announced.

For October alone FDI increased 1.24% to $8.42bn, the ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement that in the first 10 months, “investment in China from the 10 Asian countries and regions, the EU and the US maintained rather fast growth”.

By far, most investment into China comes from a group of 10 Asian countries and regions including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. FDI from that region rose 7.18% to $83.6bn in the year to October.

Investment from the European Union jumped 22.3% year-on-year to $6.40bn during the January-October period, while that from the US increased 12.4% to $3.04bn.

The announcement came days before Chinese and EU leaders are to meet in Beijing for an annual summit to discuss a wide range of issues, likely to include a bilateral investment agreement.

China is the world’s second-biggest economy and the European Union is its largest trade partner. Trade between the two amounted to $546.0bn in 2012, according to Chinese Customs data.

“Reaching a high-level Sino-EU investment agreement is in the interest of both China and the EU,” said Shen. “It will not only promote bilateral investment growth, but also help build balanced China-EU trade relations.

“China is prepared for this significant negotiation,” he added. China’s own investment in the European Union rose 92.4% year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2013, the ministry said, without giving a value.

Overall, China’s overseas investment increased 20.0% year-on-year to $69.5bn during the same period, it added.