China denies worsening investment environment

The amount of foreign investments in China, which may exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars this year for the first time, does not support accusations that China's investment environment is deteriorating, Shen Danyang, deputy director-general of Ministry of Commerce, said on Sept. 5.

Shen said the recent concern about China's investment environment reflects multinational corporations' interests in the Chinese market, and this does not amount to a general view that China's investment environment is worsening. It also does not mean that the Chinese government may change or has changed policies of foreign investment.

He said that absorbing foreign investment is an important part of China's basic national policy. Since the reforms of the late 1970s, the Chinese government has created an increasingly sound investment environment for foreign investment, and China's foreign investment attraction is actually continually enhanced.

He stressed that with the global cross-border investment down 40 percent in the last year, foreign investment China absorbed only fell by 2.6 percent.

Ministry of Commerce data showed in the first seven months of this year, China actually used foreign capital of 58.4 billion U.S. dollars, up nearly 21 percent. China approved establishment of nearly 14,500 foreign investment enterprises, up almost 18 percent.

He said that currently foreign-funded enterprises in China are doing well and remain optimistic about China's development prospects, which to some degree reflects that the Chinese government's efforts to improve the investment environment has won recognition of investors and boosts the confidence of foreign investment.

Shen also said China's investment environment is not perfect. Next, the Chinese government will continue to intensify reform, spur innovation and make efforts to create a more open and transparent legal environment for foreign investment.