No change in foreign capital use, vows govt spokesman

Wang Guoqing, spokesman for China's top political advisory body, has vowed that the government will not change policies for utilizing foreign capital, and China will continue to create a sound development environment for foreign companies and safeguard their benefits.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, China's use of foreign capital saw a year-on-year rise of 5.6 percent. By the first 11 months of last year, the number of foreign companies that invested in China had increased by 11 percent year-on-year.

"Capital goes after benefits. The statistics demonstrated that the saying that the environment for foreign companies has been deteriorating doesn't hold water," Wang, spokesman for the fourth session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, said on Wednesday.

"Over the past two years, the National Committee has conducted research about foreign company development environment in China. From my personal experience and those researchers contacting foreign companies, the environment for the development of foreign companies in China has improved rather than deteriorated," he said.

"It is a fact that because production costs have risen, people's lives and needs have changed, and market competition becomes more and more fierce, it gets harder for foreign companies to earn profits. Yet I want to emphasize that the Chinese government is strongly committed to providing a legal, international and convenient business environment for foreign companies. China, a huge market with 1.3 billion people, will still be a popular destination for foreign investment and foreign companies can still make profits here," said Wang.

According to the Business Environment in China 2015, issued by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, more than 60 percent of its members rank China in the top three destinations for international investment.

In a business confidence report issued by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, 61 percent of European enterprises consider China an increasingly important part of its global strategy. The annual report of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China says its domestic sales-based enterprises and industries are predicted to continue doing well in the Chinese market.