CHINA DREW a record $105.7 billion (€79 billion) in foreign direct investment in 2010, with inflows rising more than $17 billion from the previous year as global firms tapped its market.
In December alone, the ministry of commerce said foreign direct investment (FDI) in China grew 15.6 per cent from a year ago to $14 billion.
It is a record amount of FDI flowing into China in any single month, according to calculations by Reuters. “An improving investment environment in China is the new force that fuelled the growth of FDI in 2010,” said Yao Jian, a spokesman at the ministry.
Mr Yao said foreign investment in China’s vast rural central and western regions was especially strong. In turn, China’s investment abroad in non-financial sectors rose 36.3 per cent from a year ago to $59 billion in 2010, he said.
FDI in China, which surged after it joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, has bounced back after the global slowdown.
Separately, China’s foreign exchange regulator said the country faces challenges in managing foreign exchange reserves – the world’s largest at $2.85 trillion. The comments by Yi Gang, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, highlighted concerns over the rapid build-up in the country’s foreign currency reserves, which jumped by a record $199 billion in the fourth quarter. – (Reuters)
