China's investment reform to boost global FDI flows: UN official

GENEVA - A senior UN official said on Wednesday that China's liberalization efforts of investment regime, driven partly by its investment administrative reform, will create opportunities for global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows.

James Zhan, director of Investment and Enterprise at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), told Xinhua during an interview that Chinese investors were very active and FDI outflows in China had increased significantly over the last few years.

According to the latest annual global investment report by UNCTAD, China in 2015 was the third largest investor in the world, after the United States and Japan.

The report revealed that FDI inflows and outflows in Chinese mainland stood at $136 billion and $128 billion respectively. "China represents roughly 10 percent of the global FDI flows," noted Zhan.

In 2015, global FDI flows rose to $1.76 trillion in 2015, hitting their highest level since pre-crisis peak in 2007.

However, UNCTAD warned that cross-border investment is expected to contract by 10 to 15 percent this year, barring another wave of cross-border mega deals and corporate reconfigurations.

Zhan predicted that "FDI flows into China will remain at a high level but won't have a drastic increase in 2016."

He added that China's FDI structure change would create potential opportunities, noting the FDI inflows in China tend to target high-tech industries, R&D areas, as well as involving automation in manufacturing.

"For outflows, I see that China will continue to be very active in acquiring firms and engaged in green field investment," he said.

Over the medium term, FDI flows are projected to resume growth in 2017 and to surpass $1.8 trillion in 2018, according to UNCTAD.