BEIJING - China is confident it will remain an attractive market for foreign investment despite new challenges, said a spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday.

The confidence come from the existing foundation and new efforts that will be taken to attract foreign investment, said Shen Danyang, spokesman with the MOC.

The utilized amount of foreign capital stood at $135.6 billion in 2015, up 5.5 percent year on year, outperforming other developing countries for the 24th straight year. China actually used 141.88 billion yuan in foreign capital in the first two months this year, up 2.7 percent year on year, according to the MOC.

The country is facing challenges in attracting foreign investment due to rising costs of production factors such as labor and increasing competition from other countries, but researches from global institutions and foreign chambers of commerce are mostly upbeat on China's investment outlook, Shen pointed out.

"Despite new challenges, we are fully confident in making China an attractive market for foreign investment," Shen said.

The government will strive to make the domestic market fairer and more transparent and predictable by further relaxing restrictions on foreign investment in service sector such as education and finance and supporting more opening up of key border areas to help attract foreign investment, according to Shen.

Meanwhile, China will encourage more foreign investment in central and western areas and continue to enhance protection of intellectual property rights, Shen added.