China FDI growth slows, ODI increases

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland slowed in the first 11 months, while outbound direct investment (ODI) increased, official data showed Thursday.

FDI rose 3.9 percent year on year to reach 731.8 billion yuan (about 113.79 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-November period, slightly retreating from the 4.2 percent gain posted for the first ten months, the Ministry of Commerce said at a press conference.

Foreign investment to the service industry continued strong growth, rising 8 percent year on year to 513.3 billion yuan. FDI in high-tech services was particularly strong, nearly doubling from a year earlier to reach 88.14 billion yuan.

In the first 11 months, FDI from the United State surged 55.4 percent, while that from the European Union went up 43.9 percent.

To attract more foreign investment, Chinese authorities are considering revising the country's guidance measures for entry to the market, cutting the number of restrictive measures to 62 from 93.

The country's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, last week published a revision draft on its website to seek public opinion on the changes.

Thursday's data also showed China's non-financial ODI increased 55.3 percent year on year to reach 161.7 billion U.S. dollars in the January-November period.

In November alone, ODI jumped 76.5 percent to reach 15.74 billion U.S. dollars.

The strong momentum has raised concerns about capital outflows at a time when the Chinese currency is under depreciation pressure.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday decided to raise interest rates and hinted at more rate hike next year, bringing further pressure on capital outflows in China.

Chinese regulators reiterated last week that there was no change in the government policy to encourage businesses to "go global," but they were closely monitoring the tendency of "irrational" overseas investment in certain areas.

Regulators are also keeping an eye on risks associated with certain types of overseas activity, with relevant companies advised to make decisions "carefully," according to the statement jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce, the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.