FDI in China to touch $100 billion this year

China's actual use of foreign direct investment is expected to rise 11 per cent to about $100 billion this year and China's outbound investments on the international market are expected to exceed $50 billion, China's minister of Commerce Chen Deming has said.

He also estimated the imports and exports of the whole year would reach $2.9 trillion, surging more than 30 per cent over 2009, state-run Peoples Daily reported.

The government has made great efforts on alleviating foreign investors' concern over China's investment environment, particularly in terms of China's policies on innovation, government procurement and intellectual property rights protection.

Foreign capital inflow into Tibet and Xinjiang are also being encouraged, he said. Over the first 11 months of the year, China has used $92 billion of foreign capital, up 18 per cent over the same period of last year.

The $9.7 billion of FDI that was actually used in November means a year-on-year increase of 38 per cent, marking the 16th consecutive monthly rise.

China has made $47.6 billion of non-financial overseas investment over the first 11 months of the year, with $17.5 billion through mergers and acquisitions. The figure for the whole year, according to Chen, could be higher than $50 billion.