China meets FDI target for 2021-2025 ahead of schedule

BEIJING, July 18 (Xinhua) -- China has achieved its target ahead of schedule for actual use of foreign direct investment (FDI) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), a commerce official said Friday.

By the end of June, China's actual use of FDI since 2021 had reached 708.73 billion U.S. dollars, hitting the 700-billion-dollar target six months early, Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, said at a press conference.

Some 229,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established during the period, about 25,000 more than in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), he noted.

Foreign-invested enterprises contributed one-third of China's foreign trade, one-fourth of value-added industrial output, and one-seventh of tax revenues. They have also created more than 30 million jobs during this period, Ling added.

He said the country has seen a marked improvement in the quality of foreign capital use. In 2024, high-tech industries attracted 34.6 percent of foreign investment, up 6 percentage points from 2020.

To foster a favorable environment for foreign businesses, the commerce ministry has held more than 30 roundtable meetings since 2023, helping address over 1,500 concerns for foreign-funded firms, Ling said.