FDI Suffers Its Biggest Drop So Far This Year
FDI dropped 8.7% in July from a year earlier. Apart from a tiny 0.05% rise in May, FDI has fallen in all the other months this year. Between January and July, actual foreign direct investment fell 3.6% from the same period last year.
In contrast, direct overseas investment by Chinese companies, excluding financial institutions, jumped 52.8% in the first seven months of this year, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
The changes reflect the gradual but distinct shift of China’s role in the world from an export hub to a global investor.
Bleak Outlook for Trade
China’s foreign trade will deteriorate over the rest of this year as external demand weakens more than expectation amid the escalating European debt crisis, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
China’s outbound shipments to the EU, the largest market for Chinese exports, sank 16.2% year-on-year in July to US$29.4 billion.