Our reporter Liu Meng

It's May 24thSicboonlineThe Ministry of Commerce released data showingSicboonlineFrom January to April 2024, 16805 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, an increase of 19% over the same period last yearSicboonline.2%; the amount of foreign capital actually used is 360.2 billion yuan, down 27% from the same period last year.Sicboonline.9%.

According to a person in charge of the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce, from January to April 2023, China attracted foreign investment of 499.46 billion yuan, the highest level in history, and declined this year compared with the same period last year, mainly due to the high base figure of last year.

From the perspective of the structure of attracting foreign investment, foreign investment in China is constantly transforming and upgrading. Specifically, from January to April this year, China's manufacturing industry actually used 103.69 billion yuan of foreign capital, accounting for 28.8 percent of the country's actual use of foreign capital, an increase of 2.8 percentage points over the same period last year. Foreign capital actually used in high-tech manufacturing industries totaled 45.73 billion yuan, accounting for 12.7 percent of the country's actual use of foreign capital, an increase of 2.7 percent over the same period last year. The actual use of foreign capital in medical equipment and instrument manufacturing, accommodation and catering industry increased by 126.1% and 65.1% respectively.

From the source point of view, investment in China by some developed economies is growing rapidly. According to the data, real investment in China by Spain, Germany and the Netherlands increased by 263%, 34.7% and 9.5% respectively (including investment through free ports).

"there is usually a process for foreign investment from the signing of a project, the registration of a company to the completion and commissioning of a company, in which foreign investment will continue to be funded with the progress of project construction. The growth of the number of newly established enterprises has a certain role of weather vane, which will support the arrival of capital in the future. " The head of the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce said.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the total profits of foreign-funded industrial enterprises increased by 18.1% in the first quarter, higher than the national average (4.3%). China's attractiveness as a cross-border investment destination jumped to No. 3 in the next three years from No. 7 in 2023, according to the 2024 Foreign Direct Investment confidence Index recently released by Kearney, a US management consulting firm.

Chen Jianwei, a professor at the National Institute of opening to the outside World of the University of International Business and Economics, said in an interview with the Securities Daily that it is expected that the total amount of foreign capital actually used in China in the second quarter will be stable and the year-on-year growth rate will continue to slow down; at the same time, with the continuous promotion of China's high level of opening up, the structure of absorbing foreign investment will continue to be optimized.

Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of the Economic Research Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, told the Securities Daily that in the short term, with the steady recovery of China's economy and the decline of the early high base effect, coupled with the fact that policies and measures to attract and utilize foreign capital have gradually taken effect, the decline in the amount of foreign capital actually used in China will narrow. In the long run, China is speeding up the development of new quality productive forces, which will effectively improve the expectations of external development and boost the development confidence of operators, especially through a high level of opening up to the outside world will bring more development opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises. it is expected that the absorption of foreign investment will usher in higher-quality development.

Talking about how to further consolidate the confidence of foreign capital in the development of China, Chen Jianwei said: first of all, establish and improve the management system for the introduction of foreign capital, simplify examination and approval procedures, improve efficiency, optimize services, and provide a more convenient investment environment for foreign-funded enterprises; second, strengthen the transparency and standardization of administrative examination and approval, reduce uncertainty and increase the investment confidence of foreign-funded enterprises Finally, we should strengthen the construction of a unified national market, strengthen the supervision and management of local protectionism, and ensure the equal rights and development opportunities of foreign-funded enterprises throughout the country.