China's FDI rises in November to break four months of falls

[BEIJING] China's foreign direct investment (FDI) rose on a cumulative basis in November, breaking four months of consecutive declines as foreign investors moved money into China's services sector at the expense of manufacturing.

The Chinese services sector attracted US$58.6 billion of FDI in the first 11 months of the year, up 7.9 per cent from the same period a year ago and significantly outperforming manufacturing which saw a 13.3 per cent decline as the balance tipped amid a broad economic slowdown.

China drew US$106.2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first 11 months of 2014, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday, up just 0.7 per cent from a year earlier.

Although in November alone, China attracted US$10.4 billion in FDI, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.

Among the 10 countries that were the biggest investors in China, investment from South Korea leapt 22.9 per cent on an annual basis while Britain invested 28 per cent more.

Investment from Japan continued to sink, dropping 39.7 per cent from a year earlier, while FDI from the United States fell 22.2 per cent and the European Union dropped 9.8 per cent.

As China's maturing economy slows, more and more Chinese companies are looking abroad in search of lower costs and better returns.

China's non-financial direct outbound investment has continued to approach equivalency with inbound flows, rising l1.9 per cent from the same period last year to US$89.8 billion but declining on a monthly basis by 26.1 per cent to US$7.9 billion.

Despite moderating FDI growth, China has repeatedly said it expects FDI to hit a record high of US$120 billion this year, barring no sharp changes in global capital flows, which would require China to attract another US$13.8 billion in FDI in December.

FDI is still a small contributor to China's overall capital flows compared to exports, which were worth about US$2 trillion in 2013.

REUTERS