General

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, in the first quarter of 2023, the actual amount of foreign investment used nationwide was 408.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%, and the absorption of foreign investment achieved a "stable opening".

On the basis of last year's high base, China's actual use of foreign capital continues to maintain a growth trend. Gu Xueming, President of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that this fully demonstrates that China remains one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world, and the long-term improvement of the Chinese economy will provide development opportunities and broad space for foreign-funded enterprises.

Since the beginning of the new year, foreign enterprises have increased their investment in China. The construction of Maersk Port Integrated Logistics Flagship Warehouse project with a total investment of over 1 billion RMB has started; The third store of the market opener in Chinese Mainland was opened for trial operation; Tesla is investing heavily in the construction of a new energy storage super factory... From well-known brands accelerating the opening of new stores to industry leaders increasing capital to lay out the "new track" of economic development, many foreign companies have cast two "confidence votes" on China's business environment and development prospects.

Analysts point out that China is highly favored by foreign investment, thanks to the huge market opportunities brought by economic stability and recovery, the continuously optimized business environment, and a mature and complete supply chain system.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, in the first quarter of this year, China's GDP grew by 4.5% year-on-year. Multiple key data in the first quarter show a good start. Against the backdrop of major developed economies performing less than expected and the continued global economic downturn, China's economy has stabilized and rebounded, maintaining a steady growth momentum. The certainty of the Chinese economy has been recognized by various countries around the world, and investing in China is generally favored, "said Sang Baichuan, a professor at the Institute of International Economics at the University of International Business and Economics.

People have noticed that as China embarks on a new journey of advancing socialist modernization, it sends a clear signal to promote high-level opening-up to the outside world. This year's Report on the Work of the Government emphasized that "greater efforts should be made to attract and utilize foreign capital" and "better services should be provided to foreign-funded enterprises".

A series of new policies to encourage foreign investment have been issued: the negative list of foreign investment access has been reduced 7 times, and the manufacturing sector has returned to zero; The Catalogue of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment, which was officially implemented on January 1st of this year, has a total of 1474 entries, an increase of 239 compared to the 2020 version; The "Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment" and the Foreign Investment Law are implemented in parallel.

This year, the Ministry of Commerce launched a series of investment promotion activities for the "Year of Investment in China", and various regions have increased their efforts to "invite in" investment promotion. Guangdong has implemented the Regulations on the Protection of Foreign Investment Rights and Interests, and coordinated and arranged special reward funds for foreign investment; Hainan has formulated the construction measures of "two Advanced Business Park", which will create an important intersection of domestic and international double circulation, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

From the central to local levels, the stability of policies and the welcoming attitude towards foreign investment are important factors in attracting foreign investment to accelerate its entry into China, "Gu Xueming said.

Experts point out that China has a complete industrial supporting system, a huge market space, and a significant core competitive advantage with high labor production efficiency, which is beneficial for foreign-funded enterprises to obtain high-quality raw materials and supporting components at a lower cost and enhance their profitability.

In the first quarter, there were over 10000 newly established foreign-invested enterprises, an increase of 25.5% year-on-year, and the actual use of foreign investment in high-tech industries increased by 18% year-on-year. Multinational corporations are gradually shifting their investment in China towards high-tech and high value-added production links, and placing greater emphasis on the layout of the entire industrial chain. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

This is consistent with the changing trend of China's economic structure transformation and upgrading, "said Sang Baichuan. The growth rate of foreign investment absorption in high-tech industries is significantly higher than the overall growth rate of foreign investment absorption," indicating that foreign investment is optimistic about the development potential and advantages of China's high-tech industries, which is a very prominent feature

According to incomplete statistics, over 300 new foreign investment projects have been signed nationwide since the beginning of this year, involving key industries such as biopharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, chemical energy, and modern service industries.

At present, inflation is affecting the world, but China's huge market and government policy support make me believe that China can better cope with this challenge, "said Abishek Sinha, department head of Continental Continental Tire (China) Co., Ltd.

Xinha said that the fourth phase project of the Hefei factory currently under construction is one of the company's largest investments globally. The Chinese economy is full of resilience and potential. With people's income increasing and the number of trips increasing, he is optimistic about the company's sales performance this year.

Recently, Volkswagen Group invested approximately 1 billion euros to establish a research and development, innovation, and procurement center focused on intelligent connected electric vehicles in Hefei, Anhui.

Ge Wandi, CEO of Volkswagen (Anhui) Co., Ltd., said that the company not only builds factories, but also increases investment in research and development to create a complete new energy vehicle value chain. We believe that China will continue to lead the development of the global new energy vehicle market in 2023. According to observation reports, Huacheng's import and export data.

China's data on attracting foreign investment continues the characteristics of larger scale, faster speed, more stable pace, and better structure, with the sustainability of high-quality growth, "Gu Xueming said.