China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) plummeted in July, but a Ministry of Commerce Spokesman denied the fall was related to an anti-monopoly investigation. Foreign investors channeled USD7.8 billion of funds into China last month, down 16.9% from a year earlier. “The decline in a single month can’t be used to interpret a general trend,” Spokesman Shen Danyang said. Shen said the anti-monopoly investigation, which began late last month and involved multinationals including Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft and Qualcomm, was not solely targeted at foreign companies. Shen said the majority of foreign companies were able to abide by Chinese laws and it was impossible for foreign companies to be “scared away” by the investigation. He added that the government would be closely monitoring the trend of global investment and would further open the market and provide better services for investors. In the first seven months, foreign direct investment (FDI) edged down 0.35% to USD71.1 billion with 13,247 new foreign ventures being established on the Chinese mainland. Investment from Japan dropped 45.4% during the January-July period, while investment by the United States, the European Union and the ASEAN countries dropped by 17.4%, 17.5% and 12.7% respectively. In comparison, funds from the UK jumped 61.2% during the period, and those from South Korea rose 34.6%. China’s top 10 sources of foreign investment last month were, in order, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Germany, Britain, France and the Netherlands.

China’s outbound direct investment (ODI) expanded 4% to USD52.5 billion in the January-July period, the first increase since February after the effect of a high comparative base had diminished, the Shanghai Daily reports. China’s ODI will maintain a “quite fast, probably 10%” growth pace this year, Shen Danyang said. “It will be a new feature for China’s outward direct investment to maintain a relatively robust growth and exceed the inflow of foreign direct investment in the near future.” By the end of July 2014, China’s accumulated ODI in non-financial sectors had reached USD578.2 billion. In the first seven months of this year, China’s outward investment in the European Union surged 293.1% year-on-year, Japan by 160.9% and Russia by 91.1%. Spending in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rose 9.1% to USD2.89 billion and that in the United States increased 12.8% to USD2.82 billion in the same period.

NSK and NTN, two bearing manufacturers from Japan, became the first Japanese auto part firms to be fined for their monopolistic practices in China. Tokyo-based NSK has been fined CNY174.92 million for violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of China by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The fine is the biggest that China has imposed on auto companies so far under the Anti-Monopoly law, which allows for a fine of between 1% and 10% of the offender’s total sales revenue in the previous year. NTN was ordered by the NDRC to pay CNY119.2 million for its monopoly practices. The NDRC has found 12 Japanese makers of auto parts and bearings guilty of monopolistic practices. 10 of them were fined a combined CNY1.24 billion. Hitachi and Nachi escaped financial punishment as they were the first to offer evidence of their illicit practices. Four BWM dealerships in Hubei province were fined a total of CNY1.62 million after being found guilty of price fraud. China’s increased scrutiny of foreign companies’ pricing strategy has forced Audi, Chrysler, BMW and Mercedes-Benz to cut prices for spare parts, after-sales services, or vehicles as a “proactive response” to the investigation. The probe has also been extended to the IT and telecom industries.

The European Commission plans no retaliation over China’s probe of carmakers which resulted in fines and demands for price cuts. Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW were among the first companies named in a series of investigations launched earlier this month into foreign carmakers that have since snagged Chrysler from the United States and Japanese luxury marques Lexus and Infiniti. The European Union Chamber of Commerce has slammed the anti-monopoly investigation in a strongly worded statement issued in Beijing. “Competition law should not be used as an administrative instrument to harm targeted companies or serve other aims, such as administratively forcing price reductions,” said the Chamber, which represents 1,800 member companies in China. The Chinese authorities say they are not unfairly targeting foreign companies in a bid to protect domestic producers. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says it is investigating possible antitrust violations across the entire car industry.

The General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced that measures initiated by the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to simplify clearance procedures will be expanded to 51 special economic zones along the Yangtze river. They will also apply to special economic zones (SEZs) countrywide from September 3 and to areas beyond these zones from September 18. In April, Shanghai Customs launched 14 pilot measures to cut clearance costs and enhance efficiency of the customs process in the Shanghai pilot free trade zone (FTZ).

Dengue fever is spreading in Guangzhou, as the number of cases has surged rapidly over the past month. Since the first case was reported at the end of June, more than 400 cases had been reported, but no deaths have occurred so far. The figures are up considerably from a little more than 100 cases in the city last year, and fewer than 20 in 2012. The disease, carried by mosquitoes, is caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include a skin rash similar to measles along with a headache and muscle and joint pains.

Shenzhen is looking to set up the first intellectual property court on the Chinese mainland to deal with the rapidly increasing number of cases concerning IP rights violations. The plans need final approval from the Supreme People’s Court (SPC). “Courts in Shenzhen handle one-third of all IP-related cases in Guangdong province, and roughly one-tenth of the nation’s total,” Guo Xiaoming, President of the Shenzhen Patent Association said.