People's Daily, Beijing, August 26 (Reporter Sun Hongli) The State Council Information Office held a press conference today to introduce the relevant situation of the 25th China International Investment and Trade Fair. Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations, said at the meeting that China is now a major country that attracts foreign investment, and also a major country that globally foreign investment. In recent years, under the guidance of the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", China's foreign investment has developed steadily and healthily, showing strong resilience and vitality. In 2024, China's foreign investment reached US$162.78 billion, an increase of 10.1% over the previous year.

According to Lingji, the investment scale ranks among the best in the world. Since 2012, China's foreign investment flow has ranked among the top three in the world for 13 consecutive years. As of the end of 2024, China has established more than 50,000 enterprises overseas, covering 190 countries and regions. The stock of foreign investment exceeded US$3 trillion, maintaining the top three in the world for eight consecutive years, accounting for 7.2% of global foreign investment. In the process of foreign investment development, the international competitiveness of Chinese enterprises has been continuously improved, making positive contributions to the stability and smooth global production and supply chain.

Secondly, China's foreign investment field is showing a diversified development momentum. China's foreign investment covers 18 national economic industries, and foreign investment in five fields, including manufacturing, finance, information technology, trade, leasing and business services, accounts for nearly 80%. At the same time, investment in emerging fields such as green and low-carbon, digital economy, green minerals, and blue economy is also steadily advancing.

Third, the investment cooperation has achieved fruitful results in jointly building the "Belt and Road". Last year, China's direct investment in countries with a total construction of the "Belt and Road" was US$50.99 billion, an increase of 22.9% over the previous year, accounting for 26.5% of China's total foreign investment that year. As of the end of 2024, China's investment stock in countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" reached US$370 billion, accounting for 11.8% of the foreign investment stock. The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has promoted the rapid development of China's foreign investment, achieved a good situation of "consultation, joint construction, and sharing", and also allowed the world to see China's sincerity and determination to open up cooperation.

Fourth, mutual benefit and win-win results have been remarkable. From 2021 to 2024, China's foreign investment drove the import and export of goods by nearly US$1.2 trillion, contributing a large amount of employment and tax revenue to the host country, and helping its economic development, achieving mutual benefit and win-win results.

He also introduced that the activities of this Investment and Trade Fair on foreign investment have increased significantly compared with previous years. It is worth mentioning that this Investment and Trade Fair will hold a special press conference on foreign investment for the first time, and 9 important public information products will be released at that time, including the release of China's Foreign Investment Activity Index for the first time. In addition, relevant financial institutions will also hold the "Belt and Road" international investment cooperation and exchange activities, and the host country, the United Kingdom and other participating countries will also hold a series of bilateral investment promotion meetings such as "Invest in the United Kingdom".