SOUNDBITES

Thoughts by analysts on the Committee of International Investment Experts, a think tank at the 17th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, during a special session Monday:

Ge Shunqi, deputy head of the Institute of International Economics at Nankai University:

China had more and betterquality foreign direct investment in the service sectors than in manufacturing in the past three years. This is a new development.

There is still potential to attract more FDI into service sectors, but it depends on whether the sector will be open further in the future.

It’s an unavoidable trend to open the service wider sector to FDI.

Lin Jihong, deputy director of the International Trade Department at Xiamen University:

I think the amount of Chinese investment going global is not enough, nor is the FDI we receive.

China is on the lower end of the global value chain.

Domestic auto firms want to be whole cars producers. I think this is the wrong way ahead.

If the country has a number of firms becoming suppliers of car components, it’ll be a big step forward in the industry.

Our ultimate goal to attract FDI is technological progress and industrial improvements.

Liang Dan, senior advisor with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization:

We did joint research with the European Union on the investment environment in African countries. We did extensive interviews in the Sub-Sahara region.

The investment environment in Africa is not very clear. China is not the biggest investor in Africa’s manufacturing industry. China ranks third after India and the United Kingdom, and ahead of the US.

The UK and France top the list of investment in Africa’s service industry.

Chinese firms are always labor-intensive, playing a very positive role in boosting jobs in African countries. The report also suggests African countries attract quality investment.

Gong Xiaofeng, director of International Economic and Technological Cooperation Center at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology:

Over decades of development, China’s IT sector has become the strongest in international competitiveness on China’s economic landscape, with its production value increasing from 10 billion yuan ($1.63 billion) in 1980 to 10 trillion yuan in 2012.

Some domestic corporations — Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Haier and Hisense — have grown to fully fledged due to their increasing overseas investment, export proportion and technical cooperation. These major contributors to exports now are also among leading investors abroad.

Zhan Xiaoning, director of the Investment and Enterprise Division at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development:

The international investment regulations are now in the transition stage without standard multilateral investment systems agreed in the world. Currently, the international regulations include more than 6,000 various agreements and rules.

China should set some safety valves like other economies did before, including some measures taken in financial crises. China should also consider the social and environmental issues in investment regulations as well in the current situation.