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2009-08-17 | All chapters
Foreign investment plummets 36 per cent in China
DPA, 17th August 2009
Beijing - Foreign investment in China plunged 35.7 per cent year-on-year in July for its 10th monthly fall in a row as companies drew back their investments amid the global economic crisis, the Commerce Ministry said Monday.
Foreign firms invested only 5.36 billion dollars in China in July, representing a substantial decline from the 6.8-per-cent decrease registered in June, the ministry said.
Their investments through the first seven months of the year also fell 22.7 per cent year-on-year to 1.14 trillion dollars, the ministry said.
Despite the drop, China remained the world's largest recipient of foreign investment in the world ahead of the United States, Russia and Brazil.
In positive news, the ministry said it expected drops in Chinese exports to slow in the second half of the year and return to growth.
Exports fell 23 per cent in July from the same month of 2008 to 105 billion dollars.
China's trade volume fell 19.4 per cent in July and 22.7 per cent in the first seven months of the year.
Despite the world economic downturn, China's economy grew 7.9 per cent in the second quarter, up from a 6.1-per-cent expansion in the first quarter, as a government stimulus package and a credit boom caused a rise in spending.
Japan's government reported Monday that the world's second-largest economy had emerged from its worst post-war recession in the second quarter as its gross domestic product grew 3.7 per cent, the first uptick in five quarters.
The economies of Germany, France and Singapore also broke out of recession last quarter.
In a survey by the EU Chamber of Commerce, nearly half the European business managers active in China who were questioned said they expected the economic crisis to end in China in the first half of next year.
Fewer than a third of the respondents said their companies planned a reduction or delay in their investments in China.