China warns ‘complex and grim’ external environment poses risk to stabilising foreign direct investment
- New five-year foreign investment plan outlines more conservative growth target for coming five years, in light of economic uncertainties both at home and abroad
- As Beijing vows to advance investment ties with other countries, analysts warn that deteriorating international relations and decoupling could impede effort
China is expecting there to be modest growth in foreign investments into the country in the coming five years amid increasingly challenging international political and economic conditions, according to a new plan released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
Meanwhile, Beijing also says it is focused on advancing investment ties with the European Union and the United States, such as by pushing for the signing and implementation of the China-EU bilateral investment treaty. And the ministry wants to “leverage the important role of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan” to woo overseas investors – an effort that it says will involve deepening cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan in key industries.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has said it will reunify the island by force if necessary.
The commerce ministry expects foreign direct investment (FDI) into China to grow to US$700 billion between 2021 and 2025, according to its 14th five-year foreign investment plan.
The new figure is a 0.2 per cent rise from the US$698.9 billion worth of FDIs made in the country in the previous five years.