CHINA> National
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CHINA> National
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Foreign investment in China plunges in January
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-16 13:02 The Chinese government has tried to adjust the structure of foreign investment use, which accounts for more than half of China's exports, to upgrade its export sector. Measures taken included raising labor costs, reducing or scrapping tax rebates on some resource and energy-intensive exports and allowing its currency to appreciate more than 20 percent. Even without the global financial crisis, the growth in foreign investment use would slow down this year with less input in the manufacturing sector, said Zhang. However, the unexpected world economic downturn would only "rub salt into the wound", while sharply lower foreign investment would further impact China's industrial output and exports, he said. Foreign investment use in January was around the average monthly level in 2008 and higher than the average monthly investment of 6.17 billion U.S. dollars since September, said Yao. He predicted foreign investment to maintain a stable growth this year as China improves legal and government services for investors and the process of urbanization speeds up. China approved the establishment of 1,496 foreign-funded companies in January, down 48.73 percent from the same period last year, Yao said.
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