The growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has slowed in recent years,hit by a sluggish global economy and a reduction in the nation's cost advantages as a result of rising domestic prices. That is prompting China to adopt more proactive foreign investment policies. Under the banner of "building a new and open economic system," China is striving to make its investment climate more atttractive by opening its economy further to the outside world,cutting red tape and decentralizing government decision-making. In 2017 the international situation appears to be even more complex than in the recent past,and there are more sources of potential instability. The program to boost FDI also includes a deepening of nationwide reforms,an improvement of the tax system,an upgrading of infrastructure and a drive to make the legal and policy environment fairer and more transparent.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Commerce,China continued to see growth in FDI in 2016.

China's inflows of FDI were relatively stable in 2016 and the nation remained at the top of the list of developing countries in terms of attracting foreign investment. In 2016,there were 27,900 new foreign invested enterprises in China,up 5% from the previous year. The total of utilized foreign capital,excluding investments from banks,insurers and securities companies,amounted to 813.22 billion yuan,or US$126.45 billion,up 4.1% from 2015.

Among those investors,there were many large enterprises that undertook major projects. In 2016,there were more than 450 foreign-invested companies with capital increase projects of over US$100 million.Among the bigger projects were fresh commitments of capital in new materials,new energy vehicles and batteries,aircraft parts,medical equipment,and integrated circuits and chips. They also included the service sector,more specifically healthcare,old age care,e-commerce,cloud computing,bio-fuels,and technologies and their applications for the "internet of things." This demonstrates continued confidence in China's investment environment.