China's FDI inflow up 20.5 pct in first four months

Photo taken on Dec. 21, 2021 shows a view of the new Tiexi Plant of BMW Brilliance Automotive in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 20.5 percent year on year to 478.61 billion yuan in the first four months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

In U.S. dollar terms, the inflow went up 26.1 percent year on year to 74.47 billion dollars, according to the ministry.

China's FDI inflow recorded double-digit growth in the January-April period on the high base of 38.6-percent growth in the same period last year, said MOC spokesperson Shu Jueting.

Shu highlighted the important role of China's high-quality economy in attracting foreign investment. FDI in China's high-tech industry logged a sharp year-on-year increase of 45.6 percent during the period, up 25.1 percentage points from the average growth in all sectors.

FDI in the high-tech manufacturing sector rose 36.7 percent from the same period last year, while that in the high-tech services sector surged 48.3 percent year on year, MOC data shows.

Major foreign-funded projects also registered steady expansion in the first four months as localities made efforts to overcome the impact of the pandemic and actively attracting investment, Shu added.

In the January-April period, China saw 185 newly-added major projects, each with foreign investment over 100 million dollars, which means 1.5 major foreign-funded projects were launched on average each day.

"Multinational companies have actively expanded investment in China, which shows foreign investors' confidence in the prospects of the Chinese economy and reflects the attraction of China's huge market, complete industrial system and infrastructure, as well as abundant human resources," Shu said.

In the first four months, FDI flowing into the country's central region reported a rapid year-on-year increase of 43.7 percent, followed by 26.9 percent in the western region and 18.7 percent in the eastern region.

Shu also noted that the country will continue to deepen opening-up and optimize services for foreign investors to create more opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises.