China's attraction of foreign direct investment has been still kept at a higher level, ranking the first place in the use of foreign investment among developing countries and regions in the world for 12 consecutive years, according to the overseas edition of People's Daily on September 29.

By the end of August, foreign investors from more than 190 countries and regions had set up more than 530,000 foreign-funded companies in China with a combined actual foreign investment exceeding 600 billion US dollars, disclosed Zhou Ming, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Bureau of China's Ministry of Commerce, on September 28 at the released ceremony of the "World Investment Report 2005'' by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The companies cover almost all trades, including manufacturing, agricultural, infrastructural, and service industries. Among the top 500 transnational companies in the world, nearly 450 have invested in China, and some of them have also set up regional headquarters in the country. In the first eight months of this year, the state approved 28,393 foreign-funded enterprises with a combined actual foreign investment reaching 27.993 billion USD.

Zhou Ming said a two-way opening situation of "going out and bringing in'' is forming in the country. By the end of 2004, China had an accumulated overseas direct investment of 44.9 billion USD in more than 160 countries and regions. Alone in 2004, the country had overseas direct investment reaching 5.5 billion USD, a growth of 93 per cent year on year. The continuous expansion of China's foreign direct investment scale and region has drawn wide attention internationally.