In January 2013, China's actual use of foreign investment totaled 9.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decline of 7.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
Although the data do not include the case of banking, securities, and insurance, the downward trend of global foreign direct investment is still evident.
Declined foreign direct investment and the slow world economic recovery are "the two sides of the coin". Transnational corporations find it difficult to find the right direction due to the weak global economic demand. Lack of strong support of investment, the weak global economy recovery has become an inevitable result.
Right now, the instability and uncertainties of the world economy are accumulating, especially with the world's two major economies in the difficult period of adjustment, the euro-zone economy is in recession, and "financial cliff" risks still exist in the U.S. These have brought changes to the world economic outlook in 2013. The sustainable and healthy growth of China's economy will therefore face a huge threat.
Opportunities China are facing are no longer the traditional opportunities such as integration into the global division of labor, expand exports and speed up investment, but new opportunities such as expanding domestic demand, improving innovation capabilities, and promoting the transformation of economic development mode.
Read the Chinese version:挑战之中看机遇
Source:Economic Daily
Reporter: Lv Zhi
Attractive boys and girls at an art college's enrollment site in Qingdao