China will not slow down its pace of introducing foreign funds, which is expected to hit 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, according to an official with the Ministry of Commerce.

Hu Jingyan, director of the ministry's Foreign Investment Department, was quoted by Monday's Shanghai Securities News as saying: "So far, no sectors in any parts of China have been monopolized by foreign funds which are by no means in control of China's economic life line."

Hu made the remarks in response to recent press reports saying that foreign funds will pose threats to China's economic security.

Currently, foreign funds made up less than 3 percent of the market share in industries which are key to the nation's economic development, he said, adding that foreign investment mainly focuses on high-tech and machinery and electronics industries, which witnessed the fastest growth in export.

Lu Jianhua, director of the ministry's Foreign Trade Department said direct foreign investment used by China totaled 60.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, down 0.5 percent year on year. The figure stood at 60.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2004.

Hu noted although China's yuan-dominated deposits came to 14 trillion yuan and the foreign exchange reserves hit 818.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, people should not think that China will slow down its pace in introducing foreign investment.

"Actually, the direct foreign investment used by China is far from enough," the official said.

China's accumulate direct foreign investment amounted to 600 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for around 35 percent of the country's gross domestic product, a little bit higher than the world average level.

But China's per head foreign investment stood at only 41 U.S. dollars, less than half of the world average level, according to Hu.

He urged the central government to implement stable and continuous policies in introducing foreign funds so as to remain competitiveness in attracting foreign investment, as neighboring countries and regions are also stepping up efforts in this regard.

Source: Xinhua