China’s inbound foreign direct investment expanded 5.8% in 2019, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said. FDI totaled CNY941.5 billion last year, with more than 40,000 foreign-funded enterprises being established. In value terms, China remained the second-largest target for FDI in the world. Foreign investment in high-tech industries surged 25.6% year-on-year to CNY266 billion, accounting for 28.3% of total FDI. Pilot free trade zones saw FDI inflow reach CNY143.6 billion, accounting for 15% of total FDI. Foreign investors may increase their input in the financial and healthcare sectors this year as China continues to open its market further, a recent report by the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said. “With the implementation of China’s new foreign investment law, we may see more cross-border transactions in sectors like insurance and healthcare,” said Shen Yuxin, Partner at the firm.

China will remain a hot spot for global investment in the long term despite souring global economic conditions, Qian Keming, Vice Minister of Commerce, said, adding that China will accelerate negotiations for multilateral and bilateral economic deals with its trade partners in Asia, Europe and Latin America to encourage more companies to invest in China. Qian said China’s opening-up efforts have received a positive response throughout the world, and will help it to gain more foreign investment in areas including digital technology, modern services, and high-end and smart manufacturing. The number of foreign-funded projects with an investment of at least USD100 million reached 834, up 15.8% on a year-on-year basis.

Last year China saw year-on-year FDI growth of 51.1% from Singapore, 43.1% from the Netherlands and 21.7% from South Korea. Some of the world’s biggest corporate players, such as Samsung, BASF, British Petroleum, Caterpillar, Saudi Aramco, Panasonic, Cargill, ABB, Tesla and Siemens, have renewed their commitment to China by expanding their operations countrywide.

From 1978 to 2018, China has attracted over USD2 trillion of foreign direct investment in non-financial sectors. Around 490 out of the world’s top 500 companies have business operations in China, Vice Premier Han Zheng revealed.

China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) dropped 6% year-on-year to CNY807.95 billion in 2019, according to MOFCOM. Chinese companies invested CNY105.96 billion in economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), accounting for 13.1% of the total. The structure of outbound investment continued to improve, with investment mainly going into such sectors such as leasing and business services, manufacturing, as well as wholesale and retail sales, the China Daily reports.