Foreign Investment Hits US$650 Bln in Decade

Statistics official said Saturday that foreign investment that poured into China over the past decade has topped US$650 billion.

Yao Jingyuan, a chief economist with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at a forum that over past decade, China's foreign direct investment (FDI) reached US$653.14 billion at an annual growth rate of 9.5 percent.

The FDI in 2010 was US$105.7 billion, up 125 percent from 2001, Yao added.

Further, the total trade volume has shot up to US$15.7 trillion in the meantime, making China the world's second largest country in terms of trade volume after the United States.

China joined the World Trade Organization in November 2001, and has witnessed a leapfrog in its economy.

Yu Bin, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRCSC), said increasing overseas market demand, and domestic investment and consumption contributed to such a rapid economic growth.

The economy will continue growing at an annual rate of 9 percent in the next five years, Yu said, adding a downturn is expected in 2013, though.

The 4th China Opening-up Forum is being held in the coastal Ningbo city in east China's Zhejiang Province. The two-day event, organized by the DRCSC and Zhejiang provincial government, aims to discuss key issues related to China's reform and opening-up policy.