BEIJING - China on Wednesday reaffirmed its openness to foreign investment, while stressing that relevant companies operating in China must abide by laws and regulations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks at a routine press briefing in Beijing.

The Lotte Group of the Republic of Korea (ROK) said that relevant Chinese departments had halted its construction of a multi-billion dollar real estate project in the northeastern city of Shenyang after a fire inspection.

Lu said that he had no knowledge of the status of the specific project, when asked whether the suspension of the project was related to the ROK's decision to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system on land partly owned by Lotte.

"On principle I can say that China welcomes foreign investment. At the same time, relevant companies operating in China must abide by laws and regulations," Lu said.

He added that China's opposition to the THAAD deployment remained unchanged.