Still a main attraction for foreign investment: China Daily editorial

The amount of foreign investment in actual use in the Chinese mainland in January was about $15.84 billion, a marked increase of 17.6 percent compared with the same period last year.

That not only represents a good beginning for the Chinese economy this year, but more importantly conveys an important message to the world — foreign capital still has confidence in the Chinese market despite the United States' painstaking efforts to decouple the rest of the world from it.

It is the substantial profit to be made or the potential for it that is pulling foreign investors to the country, where its dynamic zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy has provided investors with a stable market environment, and the authorities' unswerving commitment to improving the business environment and integrating it with international conventions guarantee them predictable development prospects. Apart from that, the sheer size, development potential, upgrading momentum and solid foundation of the Chinese market have maintained its appeal.

Last year, China's gross domestic product increased 8.1 percent year-on-year, the fastest among all major economies, and its foreign trade surged 21.4 percent, further consolidating the country's position as the world's largest goods trader and most important logistics hub.

These all serve to consolidate the world's confidence in the Chinese market, and more and more foreign companies see it as a research and development base thanks to the great significance the country attaches to science, technology and innovation, and the steady progress the country has been making in upgrading its industries, human resources and governance.

In January, the actual use of foreign investment in China's high-tech industry increased by 26.1 percent. High-tech industries are becoming important areas for China's economic development in the future, and a key destination for foreign investment, especially the high value-added high-tech industries, strategic emerging industries and the modern service industry. As such, the interactions between foreign capital and China's efforts to upgrade its economy will continue to be mutually beneficial.

Although the US is putting more and more Chinese entities on its blacklist, the negative lists of China, which detail the industries and businesses off limits to foreign investors, have become shorter and shorter. And the policymakers are adapting the institutional mechanisms to the requirements of the Foreign Investment Law that came into force in 2020.

The development of China has only brought opportunities to the world, and it will continue to do so in the future. Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement took effect on Jan 1, regional economic cooperation will be further strengthened, and that will create even more investment opportunities in China.