Monday June 22, 2009
BEIJING: China's Commerce Ministry has submitted a proposal to the state council pleading for top authorities to take measures to stop foreign investment from sliding further, local media reported on Saturday. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has seen sharp falls for the eight months since October as investors tightened purse strings in the face of the global economic crisis.
Worrying about a further slump in FDI, which is an important source for jobs, investments and taxes, the Commerce Ministry recently drew up a plan to relax rules on foreign investment, the Beijing-based China Times said, citing a source from the ministry.
The plan, listing 42 rules covering tax, foreign exchange, other regulatory supervision, was submitted to the state council, or the cabinet, for approval, the paper said. In the plan, the Commerce Ministry suggests giving foreign investors access to China's high-tech industry and to further relax checks on individual foreign investment, the paper said. It also recommended loosening regulations on foreign investment in the property sector.
In June 2007 the ministry issued new rules making it harder for foreigners to invest in property, partly by making them obtain land use rights before developing projects. It also banned foreign investors in Chinese real estate from borrowing offshore.
China's cabinet in 2006 approved rules restricting purchases of property by foreigners in a move to prevent foreign speculators from cashing in on China's red hot property market. China drew $34.05 billion in FDI in the first five months of the year, 20.4 percent less than in the same period in 2008.
In May alone, China attracted $6.38 billion in FDI, down 17.8 percent from a year earlier. This marked the eighth straight month that FDI inflows have fallen from their year-earlier levels, but the drop was less steep than in April, when inflows fell 22.5 percent from a year earlier. Inflows surged in the years after the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, and peaked in 2008 when China attracted a record $92.4 billion in non-financial FDI, an increase of 23.6 percent from 2007.
(Reuters)
BEIJING: China's Commerce Ministry has submitted a proposal to the state council pleading for top authorities to take measures to stop foreign investment from sliding further, local media reported on Saturday. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has seen sharp falls for the eight months since October as investors tightened purse strings in the face of the global economic crisis.
Worrying about a further slump in FDI, which is an important source for jobs, investments and taxes, the Commerce Ministry recently drew up a plan to relax rules on foreign investment, the Beijing-based China Times said, citing a source from the ministry.
The plan, listing 42 rules covering tax, foreign exchange, other regulatory supervision, was submitted to the state council, or the cabinet, for approval, the paper said. In the plan, the Commerce Ministry suggests giving foreign investors access to China's high-tech industry and to further relax checks on individual foreign investment, the paper said. It also recommended loosening regulations on foreign investment in the property sector.
In June 2007 the ministry issued new rules making it harder for foreigners to invest in property, partly by making them obtain land use rights before developing projects. It also banned foreign investors in Chinese real estate from borrowing offshore.
China's cabinet in 2006 approved rules restricting purchases of property by foreigners in a move to prevent foreign speculators from cashing in on China's red hot property market. China drew $34.05 billion in FDI in the first five months of the year, 20.4 percent less than in the same period in 2008.
In May alone, China attracted $6.38 billion in FDI, down 17.8 percent from a year earlier. This marked the eighth straight month that FDI inflows have fallen from their year-earlier levels, but the drop was less steep than in April, when inflows fell 22.5 percent from a year earlier. Inflows surged in the years after the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, and peaked in 2008 when China attracted a record $92.4 billion in non-financial FDI, an increase of 23.6 percent from 2007.
(Reuters)
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