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Q1 2003
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| CHINA BY THE NUMBERS |
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FDI in China Surges Despite Weak Global Economy
(February 18, 2003) The first month of 2003 saw a year-on-year rise of 48.19
percent in the overseas funds used in China,according to statistics released by
the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) Monday.
Figures showed overseas investment already in use totaled 3.593 billion US
dollars in January, while contractual overseas investment registered a growth of
65.34 percent to 9.241 billion US dollars.
The establishment of 3,349 overseas-funded enterprises was approved in January,
an increase of 33.69 percent.
China has now approved a total of 427,545 overseas-funded enterprises. The
contractual investment totaled 837.3 billion US dollars, of which 451.56 billion
US dollars had already been put to use.
China attracted a record of US$52.7 billion in foreign direct investment last
year as more foreign businesses tapped its potentially vast market.
Sun Xiaohua, a senior expert on foreign investment with the Chinese Academy of
International Trade and Economic Co-operation, the think-tank of the foreign
trade ministry, said China's FDI will continue its upward trend this year.
He predicted China would retain its competitiveness and outperform the world
economy.
The nation's rapid economic growth and the start of a new round of trade
liberalization talks will create new business opportunities for foreign
investors, said Sun.
He identified the development of China's western regions and multinationals'
mergers and acquisitions as the new drivers in FDI flow this year.
Sun said the government's decision to encourage foreign investment in the
restructure of State-owned enterprises will also provide more opportunities for
FDI.
So too will the trend among multinationals to relocate their manufacturing bases
to China, Sun said.
Zhang Feng, an expert from the State Information Centre, forecast that the FDI
growth rate would reach around 10 per cent this year.
More offshore capital will flow into fields such as banking, tourism, commerce,
hospitals and education as China gradually lifts its restrictions on foreign
investment in line with its WTO agreements, Zhang said.
But Zhang cautioned that China will face fiercer competition to attract FDI in
future while Sun urged the government to pay more attention to the quality of
FDI rather than focusing on quantity alone.
Source: People's Daily
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China Sees 14.8 Percent Industrial Growth in January
(February 19,2003) China reported year-on-year industrial growth of 14.8 percent
in the first month of this year with 266.2 billion yuan (32.4 billion US
dollars) in added value
In its monthly report released Tuesday, the National Bureau of Statistics said
the industrial sector maintained the momentum of the last quarter of 2002.
The added value by State-owned industrial enterprises totaled 146.5 billion yuan
(17.8 billion US dollars), up 14.5 percent over the same period last year,
according to the report.
The added value by collectively-owned manufacturing firms stood at 17.4 billion
yuan (2.1 billion US dollars), an increase of 11.3percent.
The share-holding manufacturing firms, meanwhile, reported a 16.6 percent
increase in output to 107.7 billion yuan (13.1 billion US dollars).
The added value by foreign-funded manufacturing firms and those funded by
investors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao went up by 17.2 percent to 70.9
billion yuan (8.6 billion US dollars).
Production of automotive vehicles and some electronic and telecommunication
products grew fast during January, according to the report.
China produced 325,000 units of automotive vehicles, up 55.5 percent year on
year, close to the highest monthly output recorded last year.
A total of 127,000 sedans were manufactured last month, a record monthly figure,
and 120 percent up from the same period last year.
Manufactured goods worth a total of 157.6 billion yuan (19.2 billion US dollars)
were delivered for export, up 25.4 percent.
Source: People's Daily.
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