BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that China's foreign direct investment inflows dropped 2.4 percent in the first four months of 2012 compared to last year, that is the longest period of declining inflows since the depths of the global financial crisis back in 2008 and many analysts are seeing it as a sign of the external headwinds facing the Chinese economy.
The Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday that the country drew 37.9 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment between January and April, down 2.4% year on year. April’s inflow alone was 8.4 billion US dollars, down less than one percent.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang said, "Eurozone countries invested 1.9 billion US dollars from January to April period, a drop of 27.9%. US direct investment in China edged up 1.9%. Investment from 10 Asian countries and regions increased 0.6% year on year during the same period."
Analysts say the negative trend reflects concerns over China’s lower growth potential, lack of confidence in the global growth outlook. A weaker-than-expected reading from economic data released last week raised investor concerns that a five-quarter long slide has not bottomed and more must be done to support growth. China has been fine-tuning economic policy setting since the autumn of last year as the outlook for the global economy weakened, export growth sank and capital inflows stalled.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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