Foreign direct investment in China jumped for a ninth month, rising almost 25% in April from a year earlier, Bloomberg reported, citing state media. Investment has jumped amid sustained economic expansion, as the nation’s growth quickened to 11.9% in the first quarter. Land price discounts and expectations that the renminbi will appreciate may also lure more foreign investors. Meanwhile, the State Council announced last month preferential policies for land use and tax breaks to attract foreign investment into "encouraged categories", including renewable energy, high technology and service industries in central and western China. The government also increased the cap on foreign investment projects that local authorities can approve from its previous amount of US$100 million to US$300 million. Foreign-invested companies directly employed 45 million people in China, and accounted for 28% of China’s industrial output and 56% of exports in 2009.
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