New foreign investment into China slowed again last month, dealing a blow to policymakers’ efforts to attract more overseas capital to the world’s second-largest economy.
New actually utilized foreign investment into China was 102 billion yuan (US$14.1 billion) last month, according to calculations based on figures provided by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday. That was down 27 percent compared with the same month last year.
Efforts to convince overseas companies to return to China since the nation reopened after years of COVID-19 isolation are falling short. The continuing weakness highlights how foreign companies are putting less money into the nation due to geopolitical tensions and higher interest rates elsewhere.
Photo: AFP
The ministry in a statement accompanying the numbers said that fluctuations in investment data were normal, and the long-term outlook was strong with favorable conditions for investment.
Beijing’s efforts to woo back foreign capital has so far revolved around a series of action plans and warm language.
China in August last year announced a 24-point plan to address concerns, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) promised “heart-warming” measures last year during a trip to the US, while this week the government unveiled another set of policies to further open up the Chinese market to foreign firms.
Officials on Wednesday said they had made progress on more than 60 percent of the 24-point plan at a news conference in Beijing, but foreign business groups have been more critical, saying they are still waiting to see how many of the pledges, which include better access to government contracts and relaxed regulations on transferring data overseas, are implemented.
There is also more incentive for multinationals to keep cash overseas, because advanced economies have been raising interest rates while Beijing has been cutting them to stimulate the economy.
New actually utilized foreign investment was 1.1 trillion yuan last year, 8 percent lower than the record in 2022.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the