Growth of non-financial foreign direct investment (FDI) on the Chinese mainland surged 11.8% year-on-year in April, compared with a decline of 14.1% in March, showing that global companies’ confidence in China continued to grow despite the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). The total FDI inflow into China fell 6.1% year-on-year to CNY286.55 billion in the first four months of this year. The decline was 4.7 percentage points narrower than in the first quarter. Thanks to the government’s policies and measures to stabilize foreign investment and offer global companies easier market access, their confidence continued to increase in China, a MOFCOM Spokesman said, adding that a number of key foreign investment projects were signed and implemented in the first four months.

To maintain solid economic fundamentals, the government emphasized the importance of focusing on the six priorities of safeguarding employment, people’s livelihoods, the development of market entities, food and energy security, the stable operation of industrial and supply chains and the smooth functioning of society. The Spokesman added that stabilizing foreign trade this year remains a challenge. Investment in China by economies related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) rose 7.9% and that of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) increased 13% year-on-year in the first four months, while investment by the European Union fell 29.1% on a year-on-year basis. The global capital flow into high tech services industries grew by 2.7% year-on-year between January and April, with inflow of FDI into information services rising by 46.9%, e-commerce up by 73.8% and FDI in professional technological service sectors growing 99.6% year-on-year.

Jerome Jean Haegeli, Chief Economist of Swiss Re Group, said that in comparison with many other economies, China faces manageable supply chain risks as it is increasingly less reliant on manufacturing FDI. The nation has a remarkable potential domestic market, and it has been speeding up investment in new infrastructure. These two elements would facilitate its transformation into a consumption-oriented and digital economy. He stressed that the Chinese economy is best placed to emerge as the world’s strongest from the crisis, and it still has competitive advantages based on a range of indicators, such as its labor market and infrastructure, the China Daily reports.

China’s exports in April rose 8.2% year-on-year to CNY1.41 trillion, while imports were down 10.2% to CNY1.09 trillion, according to customs data.