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BIZCHINA / Center |
June FDI rises 21.91% to $6.63b(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-12 15:26 China, the fastest-growing major economy in the world, saw actual foreign direct investment (FDI) hit US$6.63 billion in June, an increase of 21.91 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce said. In May, actual FDI reached US$4.90 billion, up 8.65 percent compared with the same period last year, the ministry said. FDI rose 12.2 percent in the first half of this year to US$31.89 billion from a year earlier. Low manufacturing costs and a pool of 1.3 billion potential consumers have attracted many foreign firms to set up operations in China, the fourth-largest economy in the world. Statistics show that there were 18,683 new foreign-invested enterprises in the first six months of the year, down 5.4 percent from a year earlier, with 3,611 such enterprises established in June, a decrease of 11.73 percent. Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, and South Korea were the top three sources of FDI in the first half, the ministry said. Overseas-funded factories accounted for more than 50 percent of the surging exports that pushed up the nation's trade surplus in June to a monthly record of US$26.9 billion. The surplus soared to US$112.5 billion in the first half of this year, up 84 percent from a year earlier. Investment inflows have made China the world's biggest producer of cell phones, computers and clothes. China was the world's fourth-largest recipient of foreign investment this year, according to the United Nations. Spending by overseas companies rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier to US$63 billion. FDI growth has a huge potential in China and an increasing number of foreign companies will establish a presence here as the country tries to boost domestic demand, experts said. |
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