Chinanews, Beijing, Jan. 29 – Chinese enterprises have made investment in over 160 countries and regions in the world and the fields of their investment cover nearly all business sectors, from export trade, catering business, processing, to distribution network, air logistic service, natural resources exploitation, manufacturing, and research and development.

 

In 2006, China’s foreign direct invesement(FDI), from which investment in finance sector was excluded, reached 16.1 billion US dollars, increasing by 32% over the previous year and ranking 13 in the world. By the end of 2006, China’s total foreign direct investment reached 73.3 billion US dollars, according to a recent report released by the Ministry of Commerce.

 

Compared with the past, most Chinese enterprises now prefer FDI through mergers and acquisitions. Last year, China made 4.7 billion US dollars of foreign direct investment by merging with or acquiring foreign enterprises, accounting for 37% of the total FDI figure. Among these acquisition cases, Sinopec purchased the Udmurtneft Oil Company in Russia and China Blue Star merged with the RHODIA in France.

 

Over the next five years, it is expected that China’s FDI figure might increase by more than 20% year by year and its FDI figure is expected to reach 60 billion US dollars by 2011, the Deutsche Bank predicted in a recent report.

 

Industrial analysts say that most FDI investment activities will occur in energy sector, which might account for “two-thirds of the total FDI figure.” According to analysts, Chinese enterprises in energy sector, including those in oil and mineral resources, have a “better performance than their business foreign counterparts.”