Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose just 2.2% in the first four months of the year, the ministry of commerce said May 12. Total actual investment by foreign enterprises in the period January to April reached $17.5 billion. Contracted investment, which gives an indication of future inflows, grew 8% to $50.2 billion in the first four months.
The top two sources of investment during the four-month period were Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands, legal home to many companies and offshore investment houses. Economists have speculated that investment from these two sources in particular could be Chinese money re-entering the mainland to take advantage of preferential treatment for foreign investors.
According to previously published figures, actual FDI in the three months to March rose 9.5% from a year earlier to $13.4 billion, with contracted FDI up 4.5% to $35.22 billion.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005
