Foreign Investment in China Hits Lowest Point Since 2012
China’s foreign direct investment in August fell to a low not seen in at least 2-1/2 years, underscoring the challenges to growth facing the world’s second-biggest economy.
China attracted $7.2 billion in foreign direct investment in August, the Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday, down 14% from a year earlier and at a level not seen since at least February 2012.
“It reflects the downward pressure on the manufacturing sector,” said Zhou Hao, an ANZ economist. “The manufacturing sector has not been doing well so it’s logical that companies are reducing their investment.”
China startled global investors last weekend when it released data that showed factory output growing at its slackest pace in six years in August, stoking fears its economy was sliding deeper into a bruising downturn and causing some economists to trim their 2014 growth forecasts.
In the first eight months of the year, China’s services sector attracted $43.3 billion of FDI, up 8.9% from a year ago and faring much better than the manufacturing industry, where FDI dropped 15.7% from a year ago to $27.5 billion.
Source: NYT- Foreign investment in China
