Date 16 January 2009

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China was up by about 23% last year amounting to US $92 billion.

The increase, however, was lower than the 26% increase for the first 11 months of 2008, as November and December saw a decline in foreign direct investment nationwide, as companies seem to become more cautious about their expansion plans. China approved the establishment of 2,562 overseas-funded enterprises in December, down 25.78 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce said. 

Shanghai's FDI in particular, reached a new high of US $10 billion during the first 11 months, accounting therefore for more than 10 percent of the country’s total.