-- Foreign direct investment into China fell 6.9% from a year earlier in June
-- FDI in the first half fell 3.0% from a year earlier
-- China's non-financial overseas investment soared 48.2% in the first half
BEIJING--Foreign direct investment into China fell 6.9% to $12.0
billion in June from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said in
a statement Tuesday.
June's FDI was up from $9.23 billion in May, when there was a slight
rebound ending six straight months of decline, but FDI in the first
half of the year fell 3.0% to $59.1 billion, the ministry said in the
statement. FDI in the first five months fell by 1.91% from a year
earlier.
The numbers, which are in line with figures revealed to Xinhua News
Agency by Vice Commerce Minister Wang Chao on Monday, come a week
after China reported sharply weaker first-half import and export
growth, suggesting the world's second-largest economy has to battle
domestic and global weakness.
In the first half, investment from the U.S. fell 3.2% from a year
earlier to $1.63 billion, investment from the EU rose by 1.6% to $3.52
billion, and investments from other Asian countries fell by 2.8% to
$51.1 billion.
Meanwhile, China's non-financial overseas direct investment soared by
48.2% to $35.4 billion in the first half, the ministry said.
At a news briefing where the data was issued, Shen Danyang, spokesman
for Ministry of Commerce, also spoke about the weak performance of
China's external trade in the first half of the year.
China's exports rose by 9.2% from a year earlier in the first half,
down from 24.0% growth a year earlier, data from the General
Administration of Customs showed earlier. Imports rose by 6.7%, down
from 27.6% growth a year earlier.
Weak external demand, rising domestic costs and a worsening trade
environment were the main causes for declining export growth, Mr. Shen
said. Declining commodity prices and weak domestic demand accounted
for the slower import growth, he added.
China's official target is to achieve 10% growth in foreign trade this
year. But Mr. Shen said Tuesday this doesn't necessarily mean exports
and imports will both each grow by 10%. Export growth for the full
year could end up being slightly higher than import growth, said.
China's total trade surplus this year is therefore likely to be larger
than last year, he added.
-Write to Grace Zhu at grace.zhu@dowjones.com
(An earlier version of this story misstated that investment from Europe fell.)
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 16, 2012 22:35 ET (02:35 GMT)
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