Foreign investment in Q1 at historic high: MOFCOM

China’s actual use of foreign capital in the first quarter of this year remained at a historically high level, an official with China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Friday, defying claims by some Western media that foreign capital is withdrawing from China.

The country’s continuous openingup, supportive policies and industry upgrade are among the key drivers for more foreign capital, officials and experts said.

Speaking at Friday’s press conference, Guo Tingting, vice commerce minister said that the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in the first quarter of this year came at 12,000, an increase of 20.7 percent, maintaining the rapid growth trend from last year.

In terms of investment scale, the actual use of foreign capital reached 301.67 billion yuan ($41.67 billion), which was still at a historically high level, the vice minister said.

It is noteworthy that in terms of investment structure, the proportion of investment in high-tech manufacturing reached 12.5 percent during this period, an increase of 2.2 percentage points year-on-year, according to Guo.

The continuous optimization of China’s business environment for foreign enterprises allows more of them to participate more fully in China’s development and gives them a sense of achievement, Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

“Foreign investment comes and goes, much like the continuous flow of international capital markets, but the structure is constantly optimizing,” Bai said.

As China pursues industry upgrades for high-quality development, many foreign investments, especially those with advanced technology, choose to expand their investments and outlays in China, experts said, defying some Western rhetoric that there is a trend of foreign capital leaving the country.