Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng said here Wednesday that some new trends have taken shape in overseas investment in China over the past 13 years.

The new trends include an increase in the average amount of investment for each overseas-funded project, a shift of focus of overseas capital from general manufacturing to basic industries, infrastructure, and new and high-tech industries, and a growing inflow of investments from large multinationals, Shi told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Over the 13 years, he said, actual overseas capital in China topped 400 billion US dollars, accounting for 97 percent of the total since the country initiated reform and opening up policies in the late 1970s.

Actual investments and contractual capital from abroad for the first 10 months of this year reached 46.44 billion US dollars and 76.5 billion US dollars, respectively, up 19.65 percent and 34.87 percent from the same period in 2001, Shi said.

The average amount of capital for each overseas-funded project jumped to 2.65 million US dollars last year from 970,000 US dollars in 1989, he said, adding that more than 400 of the world's top 500 corporations have had operations in China.

An increasing number of overseas investors have entered such sectors as foreign trade, telecommunications, finance, and insurance, Shi added.

(Xinhua)

Jiang Zemin, in his report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, said the Party's door is open to all positive factors of the society, including private entrepreneurs, foreign-invested firm employees, self-employed businessmen and freelance professionals, he also said that the Party should advance with the times. What's your opinion?