|
Chinese companies made overseas direct investments valuedatUS$2.85 billion last year, an increase of 5.5 per cent comparedto2002, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.By the end of lastyear,the total amount of overseas direct investment by thesecompaniesreached US$33.2 billion, the ministry said in theStatisticalCommunique of China on Overseas Direct Investment,jointly issuedwith the National Bureau of Statistics.This was thefirst time forthe country to issue such a commu
nique, suggestingthe governmentwants to beef up supervision on overseas investment,said JinBosheng, a senior Chinese Academy of International TradeandInternational Co-operation researcher.Chinas overseasdirectinvestment activity lagged far behind developed countries,however,he said.Figures from the communique indicate that directinvestmentof Chinese companies accounted for only 0.48 per cent oftheworlds total.According to the communique, State-owned firmstook alead in making overseas investment, accounting for 43 percent ofthe firm totals.Nearly half of investment by Chinesecompanies wasplaced in Asia.Peng Nanfeng, a Ministry of Commerceofficial, saidChina would stress supporting its enterprises ininvestingoverseas.Investment overseas has become a major way forChineseenterprises to participate in global economic competitionsinceChina began to adopt an opening up policy more than 20 yearsago,Peng said.Wang Zhao, a senior researcher with theDevelopmentResearch Centre under the State Council, said globalinvestment canalso help ease the pressure for the yuan toappreciate.Besidespressure from the current account surplus, theyuan appreciationpressure also comes from the large capitalinflow, he said.Thegovernment should encourage domestic capital togo out, hesaid.Yang Zilin, president of the Export-Import Bank ofChina(China Exim Bank), said the time is basically ripe fordomesticcompanies to go out.After about two decades ofdevelopment, thetechnical level of domestic companies has improvedsignificantly,he said.Some companies should produceinternationally competitiveproducts, he said.After Chinasaccession to the World TradeOrganization, more countries would alsoopen their markets toChinese companies, he said.Yang said his bankwould not onlyprovide more long-term credit with lower interestrates for Chinesecompanies in the next few years, but also helpthem explore moreinvestment areas globally.Export and import banksin many foreigncountries have given more emphasis on supportingcompanies toinvest in other countries, rather than supportingexports ofcommodities, Yang said.China Exim Bank will providequality andhighly efficient financial services for Chinesecompanies investingoverseas, he said.The bank will expand loanservices to Chinesecompanies which engage in processing trade orcontract projects inforeign countries, he said.The bank wouldprovide first prioritycredit for export of equipment, technologyand raw materials, whichare demanded by the overseas investmentprojects, he said.The bankwill also support Chinese companiesengaging in projectcontracting, resources exploration andmanufacturing business incountrieserehwthe Chinese Governmentprovides preferential loans,he said.(China Daily)
（信息来源：MOFTEC英文版子站）
|
