BEIJING - China achieved notable progress in ensuring stable foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow this year thanks to a combination of new policies and measures, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said Sunday.

In the first 11 months, the number of foreign-funded projects with investment of at least $100 million reached 722, up 15.5 percent year-on-year, Zhong said at a work conference in Beijing.

Earlier data from the Ministry of Commerce showed a total of 36,747 new foreign-funded enterprises were established during the January-November period, while FDI into the Chinese mainland expanded six percent year-on-year to 845.9 billion yuan.

Ensuring stable foreign investment has been a key task of China's six-plank campaign to counter downward economic pressure, which also underscores work on stabilizing employment, financial sector, foreign trade, domestic investment and expectations.

Since the beginning of this year, China has passed a landmark foreign investment law and a new regulation to optimize business environment, shortened the negative list for foreign investment and amended the industry catalogue for foreign investors.

According to the year-end Central Economic Work Conference that charted course for China's economy in 2020, the country's opening up will continue to develop on a larger scale and at a deeper level, and foreign investment will be facilitated and better protected. China will also further shorten the negative list for foreign investment and lower the overall tariff level.