China's actual foreign direct investment in January was $5.18 billion, a jump of 13.9% over a year ago, the Commerce of Ministry said on Feb. 14.
Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, where many Chinese companies register for tax purposes and South Korea were the top three sources of foreign direct investment, the Commerce Ministry said.
Companies setting up here from the U.S., another large investor in China, declined 5.6% from a year earlier, although the overall level capital investment rose 32.4%, the ministry said.
New firms from the EU, China's largest trading partner, remained at the same level as last January, while capital inflows dropped 68.9%.
In total there were 3,370 new foreign-funded enterprises created in January, a rise of 10.7% from a year earlier, the report said. Last year actual foreign investment in China was $69.5 billion, down 4.1% from 2005. However, if the financial sector were to be excluded, then the figure totaled $63 billion, a rise of 4.5%.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
