Foreign Investment in China on January 2017

In January 2017， 2，010 newly-established foreign-funded enterprises were approved， up 0.1% year on year； the actually utilized foreign capital was RMB 80.1billion （equivalent to US$12 billion）， down 9.2% year on year. The foreign investment in January has the following characteristics：

Regarding industrial structure， foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service increased and the changes of investment structure were consistent with Chinas industrial transformation and upgrading. In January， the actually utilized FDI in manufacturing registered RMB20.2 billion， down 9.5% year on year， taking up 25.2% of the national total. The actually utilized FDI in high-tech manufacturing was RMB5.42 billion， up 39.9% year on year. Among these， the actually utilized foreign direct investments in electronic and communications equipment manufacturing， and computer and office equipment manufacturing grew up 114.3% and 127% respectively year on year. The actually utilized FDI in service sector was RMB59.19 billion， down 9.3% year on year， taking up 73.9% of the national total. That in high-tech service reached RMB 8 billion， up 11% year on year. Among these， the actually utilized foreign direct investments in information technology service and commercialization of research findings grew 218.1% and 29.5% respectively year on year.

Regarding the source of investment， investments from the main countries and re- gions were stable. In January， the actual investment of foreign capital from the top ten countries and regions（calculated by the actual investment of foreign capital） amounted to RMB 75.4 billion， taking up 94.2% of the national actual use of foreign capital， going up 12.5% year on year. The actual investment amount from Hong Kong， Japan and EU grew 21.1%， 24.2% and 27.8% respectively year on year.

According to the statistics， reasons for the drop of foreign investment in January are that the investments arrived in the same period of last year and the comparative base was high； in addition， factors like Spring Festival in January also had some effect.

We believe that the fluctuation of data of January cannot reflect the trend of Chinas absorbing foreign capital of the whole year.

In mid and long term， Chinas assimilation of foreign capital still has remarkable advantages and conditions. Chinas annual economic growth during the 13th Five-Year Plan is predicted to sustain above 6.5% and China will still be one of the fastest-developed market in the world. As the reform is constantly advanced， opening-up is continuously expanded， modern market system is gradually mature and business environment is optimized， new development engine and competition advantage are formed and consolidated， Chinas absorption of foreign capital will remain competitive.

Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation in January 2017

In January 2017， Chinese domestic investors conducted non-financial direct investment in 983 overseas enterprises of 108 countries and regions with an accumulative investment amount of RMB53.27 billion（equaling US$7.73 billion）， down 35.7% year on year and slightly down 4.6% month on month compared with that of in December 2016. The completed turnover of foreign contractual projects was RMB56.44 billion（equaling US$8.19 billion）， with an increase of 3.4%. And the newly signed contract value was RMB82.49 billion （equaling US$11.97 billion）. There had been 924，000 laborers overseas by the end of January.

In January， Chinas foreign investment and cooperation mainly showed the following features：

Firstly， the investment of entity economy and emerging industry attracted attention. In January， the outward investment mainly flew to manufacturing industry and information transmission， software and information technology service industry， with an increase of 79.4% and 33.1% respectively year on year. The proportion that they took up in the total outward investment went up to 37.5% and 11.5% from 13.4% and 5.6% in the same period of 2016. The outward investment flew US$2.29 billion to the equipment manufacturing industry， 2.7 times over the same period last year. The investment flowing to real estate industry and culture and sports and entertainment industry decreased 84.3% and 93.3% respectively year on year.

Second， the investment in the countries along the line of the “Belt and Road” was active. The non-financial direct investment in the countries along the line of the “Belt and Road” accounted for 10.6% of the total outward investment， 2.1 percentage points higher than the proportion in 2016.

Thirdly， the outward investment and financing channel of enterprises tended to be more diversified. In January， the two largest outward investment and merger and acquisition projects had been completed by overseas financing， with a total value of US$8.38 billion.

Fourthly， the big contract foreign projects till remained at high level with favorable development momentum. In January， there were 50 projects with a newly-signed contract value of more than US$50 million， with a total value of US$9.46 billion， accounting for 79% of the total value of newly-signed contract value.