Beijing – China wants to become more “business-friendly” for foreign investors

In view of increasing direct investment from abroad, China wants to continue working on the attractiveness of the location for foreign capital. The People’s Republic wants to open up further to foreign investors and remove hurdles in areas that have so far been closed to non-Chinese donors, the spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, Gao Feng, told reporters on Thursday.

It is important to create a “more business-friendly environment” for foreign companies. But this year it will be a complex task to attract more foreign investments into the country.

The year got off to a promising start: Foreign direct investments – called FDI in technical jargon – increased by 31.5 percent to 176.76 billion yuan (almost 23 billion euros) in January and February compared to the same period of the previous year. Ministry spokesman Gao also attributes the increase to the effect that the previous year’s figures were relatively low and the recovery of the Chinese economy after the corona crisis has strengthened investors’ confidence in the economic outlook.

The EU and China signed an investment agreement at the end of 2020. The agreement provides for better market access for European companies in China, a level playing field for companies on both sides and more sustainable development. (apa / reuters)