China will remain the most attractive investment destination over the next two years, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said, particularly to sectors such as services and high-technology. FDI jumped 18.6% year-on-year in the first seven months to USD69.2 billion. Foreign investors set up about 15,600 new projects during the first seven months, up nearly 8% from the same period of last year. In 2010, FDI in China surged by 17.4% from last year to USD105.7 billion, the first time the figure exceeded USD100 billion, compared with a decline of 2.6% year-on-year in 2009, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) showed. FDI to the service sector jumped by 28.6% to USD48.7 billion in 2010, accounting for 46.1% of China’s total figure. The manufacturing sector absorbed USD49.6 billion during the same year, up 6% year-on-year. Geographically, the FDI growth rate in Central China registered the most notable increase, surging by 28.6% year-on-year to USD9.02 billion. West China has seen an increase of 26.9% year-on-year, while the country’s eastern region showed an increase of 15.8% from 2009.

China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) in July dropped by 58.1% year-on-year to USD3.73 billion, mainly due to a decline in the amounts going into developed economies. The Ministry of Commerce said that the decline was only temporary. From January to July, ODI in the non-financial sector edged up a mere 3.3% to USD27.6 billion. Non-financial ODI into Australia expanded 102.5%, while that into Hong Kong was up 23.9%. “The slowdown in the growth for China’s ODI in the past few months can be mainly attributed to the debt crises sweeping the U.S., EU and Japan, which have dampened local investors’ confidence and also led to a new round of investment barriers worldwide,” said Zhang Mo’nan of the State Information Center. Rising costs for mergers and acquisitions and investors’ growing awareness of risk control were other major reasons, she added. Lu Jinyong, Professor at the University of International Business and Economics, said that “the big picture is rosy, and it’s an unchangeable trend”. The Ministry of Commerce and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) have agreed to promote and standardize the procedures for state-owned companies’ investment overseas in the next five years, the China Daily reports.

China may achieve a trade balance next year, as weakening demand from the U.S. and the EU will hit exports while imports are set to grow, Wei Jianguo, Secretary General of the China Center for International Economic Exchange (CCIEE), told China Daily. While China’s exports to emerging economies grow rapidly, they account for just one third of those lost to developed economies. He forecast China’s trade surplus will decrease to less than USD100 billion for 2011 from last year’s USD183 billion. The annual rate of export growth to EU countries, Wei
estimated, may even decrease to 10% for 2011. “China’s exports to the EU will grow 13% to 15% at most, as opposed to 22% to 28% last year,’’ Wei said. China’s trade surplus topped USD31.5 billion in July, the highest level for two years, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs. “I expect that trade protection lawsuits targeting China will exceed 100 this year and next,” Wei said. While exports may be facing tough times, imports will continue to grow, backed by government support. China’s trade volume hit USD318.9 billion in July, a year-on-year increase of 21.5% while the volume of imports climbed 22.9% year-on-year to USD143.6 billion.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have the highest concentration of millionaires. Out of 960,000 individuals with a net worth of CNY10 million, Beijing accounted for 170,000, or 17.7%. It also topped other rich lists by having 10,000 people with personal wealth exceeding CNY100 million, and 400 billionaires. Shanghai and Guangzhou were respectively a close second and third in each of the wealth categories. The 960,000 people were 39 years old on average, and those who were 10 times richer had an average age of 43, according to the Hurun Research Institute, the publisher of the annual  China Rich List. There was a 9.7% rise in the number of people with assets of more than CNY10 million, while the number of people with assets exceeding CNY100 million rose 9.1% to 60,000 this year from 2010.

China Oilfield Services (COSL) has written down the value of its Libyan assets by 14% to account for potential impairments due to civil war. Libya accounts for only 1% of the company’s revenues, and there is no evidence as yet that its drilling rigs have been damaged, said Chief Financial Officer Li Feilong. Since late February it has suspended operations at its five land-based drilling rigs in Libya and brought home 77 workers. COSL posted a 4.7% year-on-year fall in net profit in the year’s first-half to CNY2.07 billion; and a 6.7% sales decline to CNY8.14 billion. The average rig utilization rate fell to 94% from 100%. Chief Executive Li Yong said second-half drilling rates will rebound due to contributions from higher value-added services such as those for deep sea operations. Some rigs redeployed or upgraded in the first-half will start to contribute in the second-half. First-half work volume was also cut by oil spills and the shut-down of two offshore drilling platforms in northern China at a project operated by U.S. firm ConocoPhillips and 51%-owned by CNOOC which is COSL’s largest customer.