In response to the changes in economic globalization, China has made new achievements in opening up to the outside world at a high level.
The data shows that China's status as a major country in two-way investment is increasingly consolidated, and the actual use of foreign capital in 2023 is 11 trillion yuan, the third highest in history, and the scale ranks among the top in the world. The structure of investment has been continuously optimized, and the proportion of investment in high-tech industries and manufacturing industries has increased; Nearly 540,000, an increase of 397%。OFDI has developed steadily, ranking third in the world for 11 consecutive years. 9,169 outward direct investment in 2023900 million yuan, an increase of 167%。
On March 1, the Study Times published an article signed by Wang Wentao, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, entitled "The Development Trend of Economic Globalization and the Expansion of High-level Opening to the Outside World" (hereinafter referred to as the "Signed Article"). At the same time, the signed article also mentioned that China has promoted in-depth reform with a high level of opening up. We will continue to promote the alignment with international high-standard economic and trade rules, increase the intensity of early implementation and experimentation, accelerate the replication and promotion of innovative experience, and further release the dividends of reform.
Foreign companies continue to increase their "investment in China".
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, in January 2024, 4,588 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established across the country, a year-on-year increase of 744%；The amount of foreign capital actually used is 1127100 million yuan, down 117%, an increase of 204%。
The person in charge of the Department of Foreign Investment of the Ministry of Commerce said that from the perspective of enterprises, the number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises has increased significantly, and the year-on-year increase is as high as 74 in the context of continuous growth last year4%, showing that foreign investment in China is enthusiastic, and multinational companies are still optimistic about the development opportunities of the Chinese market and continue to increase their "investment in China".
From the perspective of the industry, the actual use of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry in January this year was 331100 million yuan, an increase of 205%, of which the actual use of foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 406%。391600 million yuan, accounting for 34 percent of the actual use of foreign capital7%。
The person in charge of the Department of Foreign Investment of the Ministry of Commerce said that the structure of foreign investment in China has been continuously optimized. In the high-tech manufacturing industry, the manufacturing of medical instruments and equipment and instrumentation increased by 5588%, continuing the trend of industrial structure optimization and manufacturing recovery growth since last year. This fully shows that as China continues to promote high-quality economic development, foreign investment in China is also constantly transforming and upgrading.
From the perspective of the first place, the investment in China of some developed economies has grown rapidly, and foreign investors continue to actively invest in China. Driven by large projects and the base of the same period, France and Sweden increased by 25 times and 11 times respectively, and the actual investment in China from Germany, Australia and Singapore increased respectively1% (including data on investments through the Freeport).
On February 28, the Ministry of Commerce held a roundtable meeting for foreign-funded enterprises to introduce the implementation of the "Opinions on Further Optimizing the Foreign Investment Environment and Increasing the Attraction of Foreign Investment" (i.e., the "24 Articles on Foreign Investment").
He Yadong, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular press conference on February 29 that representatives of more than 60 foreign-funded enterprises and 9 foreign business associations attended the meeting. At the meeting, the Ministry of Commerce notified the implementation of the "24 Articles on Foreign Investment" in various departments over the past six months. Representatives of foreign-funded enterprises and foreign business associations at the meeting shared their views on the benefits of relevant policy dividends and put forward their opinions and suggestions.
Overall, more than 60% of the policy measures have been implemented or made positive progress, and the vast majority of foreign-funded enterprises have said that the policy has a good sense of gain, which further enhances the confidence of investing in China. He Yadong said.
At the same time, it should also be noted that in 2023, due to the sluggish recovery of the world economy, rising inflation, and insufficient demand, global cross-border direct investment will continue to be sluggish. However, He Yadong said at a press conference at the end of December last year that on the whole, the fundamentals of China's economic stability and long-term improvement have not changed, and it will unswervingly promote high-level opening up.
Liang Ming, director and researcher of the Foreign Affairs Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, said in an interview with the first financial reporter that China's use of foreign capital is running at a high level. From 2020 to 2022, China's utilization of foreign capital has set a new historical record for three consecutive years, with the utilization of foreign capital approaching 1 trillion yuan in 2020 and increasing to 1 in 202115 trillion yuan, which will continue to increase to 1 in 202223 trillion yuan. In 2023, the actual use of foreign capital in China will reach 113 trillion yuan, down 80%。However, in the first half of 2023, the global net inflow of foreign capital fell by 36% year-on-year, and the year-on-year growth rate of net foreign capital inflow in various countries around the world generally declined.
He explained that in terms of industries, in 2023, the actual use of foreign capital in China's high-tech manufacturing industry will increase by 65%, medical equipment and instrumentation manufacturing, electronics and communication equipment manufacturing increased respectively2%；China's high-tech industry attracted 4233400 million yuan, accounting for 37 percent of the actual use of foreign capital3%, an increase of 1 compared to the full year of 20222 percentage points, a record high.
The circle of friends is constantly expanding.
According to the above-mentioned signed article, "Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the number of free trade agreements signed by China has increased from 10 to 22, and the number of free trade partners has increased from 18 to 29. At present, China's total amount with free trade partners (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) accounts for 1 3 of the total. On January 1, 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into force. We are actively pursuing our accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). ”
Cui Fan, a professor at the School of International Economics of the University of International Business and Economics and director of the Research Department of the China WTO Research Association, told the first financial reporter that China's super-large-scale market and domestic demand potential will have more obvious advantages in the next ten years.
On the one hand, the obvious advantage means that domestic demand expands and attracts foreign investment. Cui Fan explained that on the other hand, it will also produce a local market effect, which will ultimately promote its own comparative advantage in industries with economies of scale.
The local market effect refers to the fact that in a world where there are increasing returns and costs, those countries with relatively large domestic market demand will become net exporters.
Cui Fan said that simply put, in the context of the super-large-scale domestic market, some industries have the characteristics of economies of scale, the industry will be concentrated in China, in the process of agglomeration, you can more convenient access to China's domestic market, the use of the domestic market, but after the super-proportional agglomeration of production, in addition to the Chinese market, its production capacity exceeds the domestic market demand, which promotes the industry's comparative advantage in exports.
In a word, large domestic demand will promote related industries to occupy more external demand. Cui Fan told the first financial reporter that this is why China's new energy industry, such as wind energy, batteries and other products, as well as the previous communication equipment industry, can produce export advantages An important reason, behind which there is a huge domestic demand support.
In addition to actively expanding its "circle of friends", China's participation in global economic governance has yielded fruitful results. For example, in December 2023, some 120 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced the completion of the legal review of the final text of the Investment Facilitation Agreement for Development, which was initiated and led by China, and will become the world's first multilateral investment agreement when the agreement is reached.
From February 26 to March 2, the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, in the negotiations on investment facilitation, fishery subsidies and other issues, China actively coordinated and cooperated with all members, communicated and interacted with all members, demonstrated its responsibility as a major country, and made important contributions to the success of the meeting, which won high praise from all participants, the host of the United Arab Emirates, and WTO Director-General Iweala. After intensive consultations, the meeting reached a "1+10" pragmatic result. The meeting issued the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration, in which members committed to strengthening the multilateral system and continuing to promote WTO reform.
Ji Wenhua, a professor at the Law School of the University of International Business and Economics, also attended the meeting at MC13 this time. Ji Wenhua told CBN reporters that China's overall position is to actively seek solutions, make appropriate compromises and concessions, and at the same time put pressure on other members to reach a balanced outcome for all parties.
Journalist Gao Ya also contributed to this article).