Chinese regions to attract more FDI

BEIJING - Less developed central and western regions of China will look to benefit from more foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a guideline released Thursday.

The guideline, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), encourages FDI into environment-friendly and labor-intensive industries in the two regions, so as to better utilize resources and improve services.

The country aims for more FDI in agricultural and mining products like zinc, tin and stibium in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the guideline said.

The manufacturing sector and service industry will also look to attract foreign capital, especially pillar enterprizes that are leading local economic growth like home appliance manufacturing in Sichuan Province.

In a revision from an article about the automobile industry in its former guideline, the NDRC and MOC now encourages FDI injection into the sector in western regions.

The new guideline clearly prohibits the expansion of enterprises with inefficient capacity or those with large energy consumption and emissions.

The guideline covers 22 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions with 500 detailed articles, which will be effective from June 10.

Utilized foreign capital in central and western regions reached $19.21 billion, or 17.2 percent of the country's total in 2012, up 36.7 percent and 4.2 percentage points from 2008, respectively.

In the first four months of 2013, FDI inflow to China, which excludes those to the financial sector, grew 1.21 percent year on year to $38.34 billion, according to the MOC data.