Actual foreign direct investment in China in 2001 rose 14.9 per cent year-on-year to US$46.85bn, said the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation. Contracted investment was up 10.4 per cent to US$69.19bn.
Despite government efforts to draw funds away from coastal regions and into the interior, Shanghai attracted US$4.39bn in utilised foreign direct investment in 2001, a 39 per cent rise over the previous year. Contracted investment rose 15.4 per cent.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing played down expectations of a surge in foreign investment in 2002, despite China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation. “We see this year no gold rush from foreign investors,” said Kim Woodard, from the chamber’s public policy development committee. “We expect that foreign investments will be at the same level in 2002 or even slightly lower than in 2001.”