Foreign investment in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is growing strongly.

Statistics from Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce show that 45 new foreign-invested companies were set up in the first half of the year, increasing 2.27 per cent compared with the same period of last year.

Total investment value of the new foreign-funded companies amounted to US$391.63 million during the same period, up 37.24 per cent year-on-year.

According to the data, investors from 13 countries and regions funded the new companies. Most of the investors are from Asia.

At present, investors from Asian countries and regions have set up 26 firms in Harbin, accounting for 57.78 per cent of the city's total foreign-funded firms.

Followed by Japan and the Republic of Korea, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region tops the chart of Asian investors in terms of the number of companies, total investment value and registered capital.

The investment boom is attributed to the friendly environment of the city, which boosts the confidence of overseas investors in their ventures in China, experts said.

So far 11 foreign-invested companies in the city have made additional investments worth US$56.95 million and lifted their registered capital.

Analysts said that overseas companies prefer setting up their operations as a sole investor to ensure control of their Chinese ventures.

In the first half of the year, 29 foreign wholly-owned companies were added, accounting for more than 64.44 per cent of the total number of new foreign-invested firms in the city and increasing 7.41 per cent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, seven Chinese companies absorbed foreign capital and joined the foreign-invested list.

Through mergers and acquisitions, on the one hand, foreign investors gained access to the local market, and on the other hand, injection of overseas capital enhanced strength of the asset-restructured companies.

For instance, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd, one of China's leading medicine makers, raised its registered capital to 3.7 billion yuan (US$462.5 million), after two overseas investors began to hold stake in the company last year.

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