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Background: China's Introduction to Foreign Investment
Statistics show that by July this year, overseas investors from more than 180 countries and regions have established more than 353,700 overseas-funded enterprises in China. Total foreign investment has exceeded 327.7 billion U.S. dollars.
Overseas funds were introduced to China 20 years ago. The first overseas-funded enterprise in China was set up by a Hong Kong businessman in 1980.
In the early 1980s, more than 30 countries and regions invested in China, mainly in eastern coastal areas. The foreign funds mainly went to the industrial and building sectors.
China witnessed its fastest growth in terms of foreign investment in the early 1990s. The number of overseas-funded enterprises increased by 12 times from 1989 to now, and the total investment went up by 16.5 times. Registered capital increased by 17 times and employees in overseas-funded enterprises grew by 12.5 times during the ten-year period.
Statistics show that China has taken the lead in luring foreign funds among developing countries for seven consecutive years since 1993. At present, some 400 of the world's top 500 multinationals have invested in China.
The import and export volume of foreign-funded enterprises accounted for 50 percent of China's total. Chinese people who are working at foreign-funded enterprises account for one-tenth of China's total non-agricultural laborers.
Experts pointed out that, in recent years, foreign investment has started flowing to the service sector and the western region instead of just going to the industrial sector and eastern coastal areas.
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