The Chinese investors had made non-financial direct investment in 5,365 overseas enterprises in 164 countries or regions from January to October in 2019, totaling the cumulative investment of RMB621.78 billion (equivalent to USD90.46 billion), a year-on-year increase of 5.9%, said Gao Feng, the Press Spokesman of Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, on Thursday. The foreign direct investment in October registered RMB66.95 billion (equivalent to USD9.47 billion), up 28% year on year. From January to October in 2019, the turnover of foreign contracted projects reached RMB793.96 billion (equivalent to USD115.51 billion), basically the same as the same period of the last year, and the value of newly signed contracts boasted RMB1214.41 billion (equivalent to USD176.68 billion), up 10.1% year on year. 393,000 workers of all kinds were dispatched for foreign labor cooperation, and there were 1.012 million overseas workers in total by the end of October, an increase of 19,000 from the same period of the last year. 

According to Gao Feng, China had made significant headway in foreign investment and cooperation while ensuring steady growth from January to October, showing the following features: 

Firstly, China takes proactive steps to advance the investment in and cooperation with countries along the "Belt and Road". From January to October, new investment was made by Chinese enterprises in 56 countries along the "Belt and Road", aggregating USD11.46 billion, accounting for 12.7% of the total foreign investment in the same period of the last year. USD112.17 billion new contracts for foreign contracted projects in the countries along "Belt and Road" were signed, accounting for 63.5% of the total figure in the same period of the last year. The completed turnover of USD63.53 billion accounts for 55% of the total amount of the same period of the last year. 

Furthermore, China witnesses an increasingly optimized foreign investment structure, and effectively puts irrational investment under control. From January to October this year, 60% of foreign investments were made in leasing, business services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail, which make up for 32.2%, 17.7% and 10.8% respectively. Among them, the foreign investment made in manufacturing and wholesale and retail rose by 5.3% and 18.5% respectively year on year. No new foreign investment was made in real estate, sports and entertainment. 

Ultimately, amid the context of an array of large foreign contracted projects, the construction of infrastructure is focused on driving local development and attaining win-win cooperation. From January to October this year, 587 new foreign contracted projects worth over USD50 million were contracted, an increase of 14 projects compared with the same period of the last year, accounting for 84.6% of the total newly signed contracts. Among the foreign contracted projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises, the contract amount of infrastructure construction projects registered USD130.4 billion, accounting for 73.8% of the aggregate amount of newly signed contracts. At the end of October, 830,000 new local employment positions were created by China's foreign enterprise contractors. 

Source | www.ce.cn