Steady growth in FDI in the first half

China saw steady growth in foreign direct investment in the first half of 2019, official data released yesterday showed.

The actually utilized foreign investment in China rose 7.2 percent from a year ago to reach 478.33 billion yuan during the January-June period, Gao Feng, spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce, said. In US dollar terms, the amount stood at US$70.74 billion, up 3.5 percent year on year.

During the same period, a total of 20,131 new foreign-funded enterprises were established. In June alone, total foreign investment actually utilized climbed 8.5 percent year on year to 109.27 billion yuan. The reading amounted to a total of US$16.13 billion, a 3 percent growth compared to the same period last year. Banking, securities and insurance sectors were not included in the monthly data.

FDI into the high-tech sector saw faster expansion, with the sector’s actually utilized FDI rising 44.3 percent year on year and accounting for 28.8 percent of the total FDI, Gao said.

The high-tech manufacturing industry drew 50.28 billion yuan, up 13.4 percent year on year, with electronics and communications equipment rising 25 percent compared to the same period last year.