At a press conference of China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday, China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Sun Jiwen says that more than two thousand foreign-backed companies were established in China last month. That was almost equal to the number of companies formed during the same period last year. Sun also says that the amount of foreign capital being utilized in China in January stood at 12 billion US dollars. That was a year-on-year decrease of 9.2%.
When analyzing the causes behind the decrease, Sun says that the amount of investment in January 2016 was exceptionally large and hard to match, and China's Spring Festival also partially contributed to the decline.
But Sun believes that January's decrease in overseas investment doesn't represent a trend for the year, and China remains one of the most attractive destinations for overseas investors. Sun says that the average annual growth rate of China's economy will be higher than 6.5% during the 2016 to 2020 period, and China will still be one of the markets that grows the fastest in the world. Sun adds that China will become the biggest consumption market in the next a couple of years, which will be a key to attracting overseas investment.
Sun also says that the country's market system is becoming complete, the business environment has improved, and a new momentum of development has formed and consolidated, which will ensure that China's ability to attract overseas investment remains competitive.
