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CONTRACTED foreign direct investment in China surged more than 50 percent in the first nine months of this year, indicating confidence among foreign investors even as the country’s economy slowed.

China’s contracted investments with top American companies were worth US$5.83 billion in the first three quarters. Several well-known firms including Ford Motor Co, Air Products and Chemicals Inc, Eli Lilly & Co, and Amazon have decided to raise their investment in China.

Meanwhile, contracted investments from South Korea jumped 66.5 percent in the January-September period and that from Germany surged 41.1 percent, Shen said, without giving more details.

The continued inflow of foreign investments into China has helped the country to retain the top ranking as the world’s most attractive spot for foreign investment made by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Shen Danyang, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, said yesterday.

A recent Financial Times report said that India attracted more foreign investments than China in the first half, but the source of the data was unclear. In response, Shen said the official data from the Indian government showed its foreign direct investment was US$19.4 billion in the first six months, compared with China’s US$68.4 billion.

China’s foreign direct investment, which has been put in place, added 9 percent from a year earlier to US$94.9 billion in the first nine months, with 18,980 new foreign-invested firms being established, according to the ministry data.

China’s eastern areas continued to lure a majority, which totaled US$80.5 billion, an increase of 10.1 percent from a year earlier. Foreign direct investment in central areas rose 0.3 percent, and in western areas added 2.2 percent.

In the first three quarters, foreign direct investment being channeled to the service sector jumped 19.2 percent to US$57.9 billion, leading the growth and taking up 61.1 percent of the total. Capital going into high-tech services rocketed 57.6 percent.