| GEO Business | | Foreign investment in China up 32pc in Nov | Updated at: 0902 PST, Wednesday, December 16, 2009
SHANGHAI: Foreign direct investment in China rose for a fourth straight month in November as the country's rapid recovery from the global economic downturn attracted more overseas money.
Investment rose 32 percent in November from a year earlier to $7.02 billion, Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a news conference Wednesday. The figure excludes stocks and other financial assets.
``This shows the economy is improving and reflects foreign investors' confidence in China,'' Yao said.
The government has reported rises from year-earlier figures in foreign investment since August. However, total investment in January-November was down 10 percent from a year earlier at $77.9billion.
Some foreign companies cut investments in China as the global slowdown squeezed credit and spending, but economic growth is rebounding and consumer purchases are rising.
China's economy grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter of this year and is forecast to easily exceed 8 percent growth for the fully ear.
Foreign companies also cut back on payrolls during a slump in exports that hit late last year and has yet to fully reverse, but surveys show that many have since shifted their focus away from exports and toward selling to the fast-growing domestic market.
The number of newly approved foreign-invested enterprises rose 10 percent from a year earlier in November to 2,437, though the cumulative figure for the year, 20,900, was down 17 percent from the same period of 2008. |  |
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