Untapped potential a magnet for investment: China Daily editorial

Capital knows no borders and neither does it care about political systems. It flows only to where it can make profits. The $103.26 billion foreign investment China utilized from January to September, an increase of 2.5 percent year-on-year, speaks volumes about how the country's economy appeals to foreign businesses.

There is no reason for foreign investment to shun the world's second-largest economy, the only major one to register positive growth amid the global economic recession that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foreign investment China utilized realized positive growth in the first seven months if calculated in renminbi, according to statistics. The total amount of foreign investment the country used was $14.25 billion in September alone, an increase of 25.1 percent year-on-year. China's market has witnessed a year-on-year increase of foreign direct investment for six consecutive months since April.

It is not just because China has done a great job in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has made it possible for an overall resumption of its economic activities. It is also because the country has done a great deal to improve its business environment for foreign investors.

China's new Foreign Investment Law, which came into effect in January, has made it even more convenient for foreign businesses to invest in the country as it better protects their interests. And the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce jointly published a new version of the negative list for foreign businesses at the end of June, which increased the areas that foreign companies can invest in.

The catalogue of industries that foreign businesses are encouraged to invest in, published by the NDRC in July to solicit public opinions, is meant to encourage foreign companies to get involved in manufacturing industries, the service sector and the development of China's central and western regions. This catalogue will hopefully be released by the end of this year.

And the negative list for foreign investment in Hainan Pilot Free Trade Port is in the making, according to the NDRC. With this list foreign companies will have opportunities to invest in the island province, which is to be an important gateway for China's further opening-up.

China has never slackened its efforts in opening up to the outside world as it is well aware how much it has benefitted from its interaction with the global market, and how it will further benefit from its integration with the outside world and make contributions to the development of the global economy as a responsible power.

Its rebalancing to put more emphasis on the domestic market is meant to offset the global impact of the world economic downturn caused by the pandemic and leverage the advantages of the domestic market.

China's economic development is entering a new stage, and foreign businesses are showing they are optimistic about the prospects.