China needs to further open up to foreign capital

China needs to further open up to foreign capital to diversify investment opportunities, according to a report by the Institute of International Economy of the University of International Business and Economics released on Thursday.

According to the report on foreign investment development, China's foreign direct investment accounted for 8 percent of the total capital inflow across the world in 2015, compared with 10.46 percent in 2014. China's share of capital inflow in developing countries remained steady at about 18 percent.

Meanwhile, capital inflow worldwide increased 36.5 percent year-on-year in 2015.

Researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ma Yu, said China has signed 14 free trade agreements covering 22 countries and regions.

"But the cost of actually using the preferential terms in the agreements remains quite high," he said. "Therefore, the government needs to lower the cost for using the agreements, such as the procedures for gaining the permission for the preferentially policies."

The Dean of the Institute of International Economy, Sang Baichuan, said China was "lagging behind" in attracting investment in its manufacturing sector.

China attracted less than $40 billion to its manufacturing sector in 2015, compared to the United States' manufacturing sector which has raked in $120 billion in the first half of this year.

Guo Lingchen from Beijing's New Century Academy on Transnational Corporations said foreign companies are setting an example for Chinese companies with higher standards of management.

"Yet China needs to have more balanced treatment for foreign companies in terms of market entrance, supervision and transparency."

China's non-financial FDI in 2015 stood at $126.2 billion, up 5.61 percent from the same period the previous year. It remained the third foreign capital inflow destination after the United States ($384 billion) and Hong Kong ($163 billion) last year.