China Optimistic About Attracting Overseas Investment

BEIJING, August 19 (Xinhua) -- China can still attract a relatively large sum of overseas investment this year despite the fact that overseas investments in China declined in the January- July period, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) said here Today.

China approved a total of 9,368 new overseas-funded enterprises between January and July this year, involving contractual overseas investment of 22.28 billion US dollars, down 20.5 percent from the same 1998 period.
The amount of actual overseas investments arrived was 21.49 billion US dollars, down 10 percent.

Hu Chusheng, spokesman for MOFTEC, called the declining of investments mainly a result of the Asian financial crisis.

"Nations affected by the crisis in Asia lack the ability to invest abroad," he said during a press conference here Thursday. " But Asia remains the biggest source of overseas investments for China."

In addition, he said China has been left out of international capital flow for the past several years, and that these funds are going mainly to developed countries in America and Europe.

Domestically, China has witnessed a sluggish market this year, which in turn has dampened the enthusiasm of some overseas investors, he said.

He stressed that MOFTEC is still optimistic about the amount of overseas investment China will attract this year.
The government is making active efforts to expand the areas opened to overseas investors, and to improve the investment environment, he said. China is also seeking more overseas capital to help the reform of State-owned enterprises and the restructuring of the national economy.

"I can say that the amount of overseas investment this year will still be a relatively large sum," he concluded. (Xinhua)