Since 2023, China has continuously promoted the reform of the foreign investment system and continuously improved the level of foreign investment utilization. On November 17th, the Ministry of Commerce released data showing that from January to October 2023, 41947 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 32.1%. Multinational corporations are generally optimistic about China's development prospects and are willing to develop in China for the long term.

     According to data, from January to October 2023, there were 41947 newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China, a year-on-year increase of 32.1%. The actual amount of foreign investment used nationwide is 987.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.4%.

     Despite fluctuations in some indicators, the enthusiasm for foreign investment in China has not decreased. Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands' actual investment in China increased by 110.3%, 94.6%, 90%, 66.1%, and 33% year-on-year, respectively.

     From an industry perspective, the actual amount of foreign investment used in the manufacturing industry is 283.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%. Among them, the actual use of foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 9.5% year-on-year. The actual amount of foreign investment used in the service industry was 672.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15.9%. The actual use of foreign investment in the construction industry, research and development, and design services increased by 30% and 15.9% year-on-year, respectively.

     The Ministry of Commerce stated that due to the continuous downturn in global cross-border direct investment and the high base in the same period of 2022, the scale of foreign direct investment attracted by China has decreased, but it is still at a historical high.

     Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission have respectively released positive signals to increase efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment. The Ministry of Commerce stated that it will further investigate possible discriminatory regulations and measures against foreign-funded enterprises, and continue to optimize the business environment. In addition, the Ministries of Commerce of China and the United States will actively implement the consensus of the new round of China US economic and trade dialogue, creating a favorable environment for trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. In terms of relaxing foreign investment access, the National Development and Reform Commission has revealed that it will work with relevant departments to promote a reasonable reduction of the negative list of foreign investment access, and accelerate the introduction of comprehensive policy measures to attract foreign investment with greater efforts on the basis of existing policies.

     Experts say that based on data from the past 10 months, the growth rate of foreign investment has slowed down due to the impact of the international situation. Stabilizing foreign enterprises and attracting foreign investment will be important tasks in the future. The active voices of the two departments strongly demonstrate China's adherence to opening up to the outside world, further confirming that China is a staunch defender and main driver of economic globalization, which is of great significance for attracting foreign investment and establishing a good international image.