China is stepping up efforts to attract more high-quality foreign investment, according to Ling Ji, vice minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Ling emphasized the country’s commitment to improving services for foreign investors.
“We will optimize regulations for foreign investment, particularly in the establishment of investment companies and foreign mergers and acquisitions,” Ling said. “We encourage foreign enterprises to participate in China’s new industrialization process.”
Attracting high-quality foreign direct investment into listed companies is a priority for 2025, Ling noted.
Zhu Bing, director of the Department of Foreign Investment Administration at MOFCOM, shared data highlighting the growth of foreign-funded enterprises in China. By the end of 2023, China was home to 465,000 foreign-funded enterprises, an increase of 46,000 since 2019. In 2024 alone, 59,000 foreign-funded enterprises were established across the country, marking a year-on-year growth of 9.9 percent.
Despite some multinational corporations retreating from China, Zhu pointed out that the overall number of foreign enterprises in the country continues to grow.
As of 2024, nearly 1.24 million foreign-funded enterprises had been established in China, with the actual use of foreign capital reaching 20.6 trillion yuan ($2.83 trillion), Ling added.
By actively attracting and utilizing foreign investment, China has imported advanced technologies and management experience, promoted economic development in various regions, increased tax revenue, provided numerous jobs, improved people’s living standards, and enriched the supply of goods and services.
