Chinese Mandarin - Trade and investment boom

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BIZCHINA / Center

Trade and investment boom

By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-20 09:26

In the past four years, the nation has become the world's third-largest
trader, the 13th-biggest foreign investor and a major target for overseas
funds.

Boosted by steady global economic growth and fast expansion and reform of
its trade system, China's imports and exports have seen robust
development since the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China convened in 2002, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said
yesterday.

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China's foreign trade expanded nearly 30 percent on average in the past
four years, with exports increasing 31.3 percent annually and imports
increasing 28 percent annually. This has brought the country's trade
volume in goods to US$1.76 trillion last year from $620.8 billion in 2002.

In 2006, exports rose by 27 percent year-on-year to US$969 billion, while
imports climbed 20 percent to US$791.6 billion. The total trade volume
grew 23.8 percent from a year earlier.

According to the World Trade Organization, China went from being the
fifth-largest trader by volume in 2002 to the third-largest in 2004.

The nation has encouraged companies to climb the industrial chain since
2002, by improving exports in hi-tech products, cultivating brands and
strengthening research and development. This policy has helped Chinese
firms sharpen their competitive edge in the household electronic
equipment and information sector. Electronic and machinery as well as
hi-tech products are gradually replacing labor-intensive light industrial
goods to become China's major exports.

Bilateral trade

Meanwhile, the nation is actively involved in regional economic
cooperation and bilateral trade.

China has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the ASEAN, Chile and
Pakistan. It is negotiating with another six economies, including
Iceland, New Zealand and Singapore, and doing a feasibility study on
similar agreements with India, South Korea and Peru, according to the NBS.

The country's optimized investment environment has continued to attract
strong interest from foreign investors in the past four years.

In 2002, foreign direct investment (FDI) in China exceeded US$50 billion
for the first time and has increased steadily since. The figure in
China's non-financial sectors was US$63 billion last year.

China had accumulated US$703.9 billion in actual foreign direct
investment by the end of last year.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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