China will continue to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), according to Liu Yajun, head of the Department of Investment Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce.

The country will stick to its current policies for foreign investments despite new macro-economic measures, said Liu at the four-day PTC (Pacific Telecommunication Council) Mid-Year Seminar and the 9th China (Tianjin) Information Technology Exhibition 2004.The seminar concluded Friday in this industrial center of northern China.

Some worried that China's ongoing macro-economic control will have a negative influence on the national economy, said Liu.

Statistics show that in the first seven months of this year, China approved the establishment of 25,217 foreign-funded enterprises, 13.36 percent more than last year's level. In the period, US$82.656 billion in contracted foreign capital was absorbed nationwide, up 39.69 percent. FDI actually used amounted to US$38.403 billion, up 15.14 percent.

The Chinese economy continued to benefit from the country's opening-up drive and expansion in FDI, Liu said.

Last year, foreign-funded enterprises accounted for nearly one-third of China's gross industrial output and more than 50 percent of the nation's total export volume. They also provided more than 10 percent of the urban jobs in the country, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2004)