Foreign funded companies makes nearly one-third of China¡¯s industrial production value

Foreign-funded businesses turn out 31 percent of China's total industrial production value. By the end of June, the country had approved to incorporate more than 480,000 companies with stakes from foreign investors and had actually used 535.3 billion USD foreign capital, said Liao Xiaoqi, Vice Commerce Ministry on July 18 at the Second Cooperation and Exchange Convention of Overseas Chinese Enterprises in Science and Technology Innovation in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

In 2003, foreign funded firms in China contributed 27.2 percent of industrial value and 55 percent of exports for their host country here. 23.5 million employees are working for their local operation.

China's actual use of foreign capital hit a record in 2003. And its attraction to foreign capital was still growing in the first half of 2004. From January to June this year, 210,000 foreign funded companies received approval for their China operation, up 15 percent compared with the same period of last year. The contracted foreign investment valued at 72.7 billion USD, soaring up by 43 percent over the first six months of 2003. The actual use of foreign capital, 33.88 billion USD, grew 12 percent.

"Geographically, eastern regions remain the main destination of foreign investment, absorbing more than 85 percent of the total foreign capital influx. There has been no remarkable changes on western areas in receiving foreign capital,"said Liao.

Liao noted that Foreign funded enterprises have had more than 600 R&D centers in China so far. He said they were harvesting generous returns in China on one hand and playing a positive role in China's economic development on the other.

Liao promised to attract multinationals to invest in China through strengthening the supply chain and extending the industrial chain. He also reiterated China's commitment to the opening of China's service sector so that the country would become natural home of the global service industry.

By People's Daily Online