Photo: VCG

China witnessed robust foreign investment in the second quarter due to the nation's effective virus control measures.

The actual use of foreign capital was $67.93 billion in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 4 percent. But growth in the second quarter increased 17.9 percentage points over the first quarter, Yuan Da, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Friday.

The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the largest offshore oil and gas producer in China, and Royal Dutch Shell, the world's leading energy and petrochemical conglomerate, in May signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement worth $5.6 billion. The new cooperation, based on the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Co, is the CNOOC and Shell Huizhou phase III ethylene project.

German chemicals giant BASF in May kicked off work on the first plants for its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, South China's Guangdong Province. 

"The successive confirmations of these major foreign-funded projects show the strong confidence of foreign-funded enterprises in China," Yuan said. 

China remains a top-three investment destination for 63 percent of respondents to the European Business in China Business Confidence Survey 2020, according to a report released by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and global consultancy firm Roland Berger in June. 

The report said 48 percent of those surveyed hold a positive attitude toward their incomes in China, up 3 percentage points from a survey at the same time last year. 

Yuan said the next steps for China are to actively expand opening-up and continuously optimize its business environment.

China has unveiled a new, shortened negative list for foreign investment, with the number of sectors that are off-limits for foreign investors cut to 33 in the 2020 version from 40 in 2019. China has also unveiled its 2020 negative list for foreign investment in pilot free trade zones, cutting the number of prohibited industries to 30 from 37.

The two new negative lists will take effect on July 23.

Yuan said they will provide more convenience for foreign personnel in major foreign-invested projects. In the past three months, more than 5,000 foreign management and technical personnel across 23 projects have entered the country through chartered flights, said the NDRC. 

Global Times