Foreign capitals are rushing into China this year after the country introduced nearly US$46.9 billion of foreign direct investment last year.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), foreign investment in China has grown at a speed of 28 percent in the first two months of this year.

By the end of last month, more than 80 percent of the world's top 500 transnational companies had invested in the country.

And more than 140 foreign businesses have established research and development (R&D) institutions in China, the report said.

Last year, exports from those foreign-invested enterprises in China accounted for half of the country's total exports.

For foreign investors and business people, China, with its relatively cheaper labor, an enormous domestic market and a continuously surging economy, has made itself one of the "fittest investing places" worldwide.

(China Daily March 18, 2002)