Anexhibitordemonstrateshiscompany鈥檚robotattheCIFITWEIPEIQUANOnthefirstfloorofXiamenInternationalConferenceandExhibitionCenter,astaffmemberfromMali鈥檚InvestmentPromotionAgencywasbusysettingupabooth.PublicityposterswerehungalloverthewallsofthesmallareasothatChineseinvestorscaneasilyidentifythefieldsavailableforinvestmentinthecountry.Thescenetookplaceduringthe20thChinaInternationalFairforInvestmentandTrade(CIFIT)heldonSeptember8-11inXiameninsoutheastChina鈥檚FujianProvince.
AwaBagayokoworkednimblywithconfidenceandoptimism.鈥淚t鈥檚myfirsttimetoChinatopromoteinvestmentopportunitiesinMali.Apartfrominfrastructure,wehopeChinesecompaniescanalsoincreaseinvestmentinagriculture,suchascottonprocessing.Maliwelcomesforeigninvestorsandoffersmanypreferentialpoliciestofacilitateinvestment,鈥漵hetoldChinAfrica.
The20thCIFITattractedparticipantsfromnearly50countriesandregions,whocrowdedintothecenterandexchangedinvestmentinformationwiththesametypeofexpectationsasBagayoko.
CIFIT,whichaimstoincreaseforeigninvestmentintoandoutboundinvestmentfromChina,istheonlyinternationalinvestmentpromotioneventfortwowayinvestmentinChina,aswellasthelargestinvestmentexhibitionintheworldrecognizedbytheGlobalAssociationoftheExhibitionIndustry.
With2018markingthe40thanniversaryofChina鈥檚reformandopeningup,Chinahassteadilykeptupwiththeprocessandcontinuouslyoptimizeditsinvestmentenvironment,makingremarkableachievementsinpromotingforeigninvestmentandoutboundinvestment.
OfficialdatashowedthatChinahadattractednearly$2.1trillionofforeigndirectinvestment(FDI)bytheendofJuly,withforeign-investedenterprises(FIE)contributing10percentofjobsincitiesandtowns,20percentoffiscalrevenueandnearlyhalfthevalueofimportsandexports.Chineseoutboundinvestmenthasalsoclimbedto$1.88trillion,withinvestmenttoBeltandRoadcountriesreachingmorethan$80billionoverthepastfiveyears.
鈥淔DIintoandoutbounddirectinvestmentfromChinahasnotonlypromotedcontinuousgrowthoftheChina鈥檚economy,buthasalsomadesignificantcontributionstotheworldeconomy,鈥漵aidWangShouwen,ViceMinisterofCommerceofChina,atthe2018InternationalInvestmentForumduringtheCIFIT.
Attractinginvestment
Accordingto2018ReportonForeignInvestmentatChinareleasedatthe20thCIFIT,intheinitialstageofChina鈥檚reformandopeningup,only300FIEswereapprovedannually,withanannualinvestmentofnearly$600million.In1984,thenumberofnewFIEsexceeded1,000.Bytheendof2017,thenumberofsuchenterprisesreachednearly900,000.
Chinahasrankedfirstamongdevelopingcountriesintheutilizationofforeigninvestmentfor26consecutiveyears.Moreover,inthefirstsevenmonthsof2018,Chinaattracted$76.1billioninFDI,anincreaseof5.5percentyearonyear.
Chinahascontinuouslyloweredmarketentrancethresholdbyimplementingthepre-establishmentnationaltreatmentandanegativelist.TheStateCouncilInformationOfficereleasedseveralmeasuresonJune8withthegoalofutilizingforeigninvestmenteffectivelytopromotehigh-qualityeconomicgrowth,announcingthatpre-establishmentnationaltreatmentandanegativelistwillbelaunchednationwide.
InApril,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingannouncedattheBoaoForumforAsiaAnnualConferenceChina鈥檚majormeasuresforfurtheropeningupandnewmeasuresforloweringthemarketentrancethresholdbyalargemarginandcreatingamoreattractiveinvestmentenvironment,vowingthatChinawillnotstopopeningupbutwillonlyopenwider.
Globaloutreach
AfricancountrieswereinvitedtopursueglobalinvestmentattheCIFIT.OfficialsfromtheinvestmentsectorinEthiopia,Kenya,MozambiqueandZambiatooktheopportunitytoholdinvestmentpromotionaleventstointroduceAfrica鈥檚developmentadvantages,anditspotentialintermsofitsrichnaturalresources,greatmarketopportunitiesandanabundantyounglaborforce,toglobalmerchants.
OfficialdatashowedthatChinesecompanies鈥檌nvestmentinAfricatotaled$3.1billionin2017,increasingbynearly40-foldover2003.ChineseinvestmentinAfricahasalsograduallyexpandedtocoverarchitecture,mining,manufacturing,technology,geologicalexploration,realestate,finance,wholesaleandretailaswellasagriculturesectors.Bytheendof2017,ChineseinvestmentinAfricahadexceeded$100billion,coveringmostAfricancountries.Besidesstate-ownedenterprises,ChineseprivateenterpriseshavealsoinvestedinAfricawithquickerpace,graduallybecomingmajorinvestorsinAfricancountries.
DuringtheForumonChina-AfricaCooperationBeijingSummit,XistressedthattheBeltandRoadInitiativeshouldbealignedwithdevelopmentstrategiesofAfricancountries.GurachaA.Bidu,arepresentativeoftheKenyaInvestmentAuthorityagreed.鈥淜enyawelcomesinvestmentthat鈥檚inlinewithourcountry鈥檚nationalconditions.AsoneofthetargetedcountriesofthePartnershipandInvestmentforGrowthinAfricaproject,KenyahopestoattractChineseinvestmentinmorefields,鈥滲idutoldChinAfrica.
TheAssociationofSoutheastAsianNations(ASEAN)isnowthethirdlargesttradingpartnerofChina,whileChinaisitslargesttradingpartner.Moreover,withinChina鈥檚threelargesttradingpartners-theUnitedStates,theEuropeanUnionandASEAN-thetradebetweenChinaandASEANhasseenthefastestgrowth.
鈥淚nthetradeandbilateralinvestmentbetweenChinaandBeltandRoadcountries,China-ASEANtradeandinvestmentranksfirst,鈥漵aidXuNingning,ExecutiveDirectoroftheChina-ASEANBusinessCouncil.
StatisticsshowthatChina-ASEANtradegrewby18.6percentinthefirsthalfof2018.Lastyear,tradevaluebetweenthetwopartiesexceeded$500billion,withbilateralinvestmentreaching$200billion.
鈥淎SEANcountriesarestronglycomplementarywithChinawithvarioustradeandinvestmentoptions.Capacitycooperationisasignificantpartofthecooperationandalsoourpriority,鈥漵aidXu.
BothChinaandASEANcountriesareactivelypromotingindustrialupgradingtopropeleconomicgrowththroughindustrialrestructuring.In2016,thetwopartiessignedajointstatementoncapacitycooperation.
鈥淐apacitycooperationcanpromoteChina鈥檚industrialrestructuringandregionalindustrialupgradingandenablethecountrytocopewithnewchangesbroughtonbyChina-U.S.tradetensions,鈥漵aidXu.
IntermsofpromotingChina-ASEANindustrialcooperation,Xupointedoutthatrelevantauthoritiesneedtomakerespectiveindustrialpoliciesandplansmoreintegratedandbettercoordinated.
鈥淐IFITservesasabridgeforChinatoimprovecooperationwiththerestoftheworldforcommondevelopmentandconstitutesanimportantgatewayforChina鈥檚openingup,鈥漵aidWang.CA
**ReportingfromXiamen,FujianProvince
**Commentsto
$80blnChina鈥檚investmenttoBeltandRoadcountriesoverthepastfiveyears
$76.1blnFDIChinaattractedfromJan.-Julyof2018
$3.1blnChinesecompanies鈥檌nvestmentinAfricain2017,increasingbynearly40-foldover2003