Decline may be reversed in 2013 on growth recovery, official says

China expects stable growth of foreign direct investment into the country next year although FDI continued to fall in November.

The country's FDI decreased 5.4 percent in November from a year earlier to $8.29 billion, and the pace of the drop accelerated from 0.24 percent in October, according the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

A steel factory in Dalian, Liaoning province. Solid economic growth next year is expected to reverse the decline of foreign investment into China. [Photo/China Daily]

Except for a 0.05 percent increase in May, the country's FDI has been declining since November 2011, as labor costs rose and economic growth slowed.

However, "China won't see a big drop in its FDI volume in 2013 because there still is motivation for foreign investors to tap into the attractive Chinese market", Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Shen said that China's investment environment has been improved constantly and the economy is set to further rebound next year, and both are advantages and fundamental factors for the country's use of foreign capital.

China remains multinational companies' top investing destination, and most of them will continue to expand their businesses in the country, according to a ministry survey.

From January to November, China's FDI, which does not include foreign investment in the financial sectors, amounted to $100.02 billion, a decrease of 3.6 percent year-on-year.