FDI shows clearer trend of stabilization

Foreign direct investment inflows into China displayed a more pronounced trend toward stabilization in the first three quarters, reflecting growing investor confidence in the country's long-term prospects as innovation-driven growth adds to the enduring appeal of its supersized market, officials and business executives said.

China's FDI in actual use totaled 548.81 billion yuan ($82.2 billion) during the January-September period, with the year-on-year decline narrowing to 4.3 percent from 5.3 percent in the first eight months, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. In September alone, inflows rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier.

"The nine-month decline was 6.1 percentage points smaller than a year earlier — a significant improvement," Jiang Chenghua, vice-minister of commerce, said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday, adding that the world's second-largest economy had sustained solid momentum in attracting foreign investment this year.

China's drive to develop new quality productive forces is also opening up new opportunities for foreign investors, with FDI into high-tech industries surging 33.8 percent year-on-year in the first nine months and accounting for 41.6 percent of total inflows, official data showed.

"Multinationals are stepping up efforts to build global innovation hubs in China and bringing innovations developed in the Chinese market to the rest of the world," Jiang said.

French industrial software company Dassault Systemes is among the foreign firms betting on China's innovation strengths. The company has established innovation centers in major Chinese cities as it seeks to strengthen its industrial artificial intelligence ecosystem in the country.

"We are here because China has become one of the places where innovation is moving fastest. For global companies, being part of this ecosystem is becoming essential to staying competitive over the long term," said Pascal Daloz, the company's chairman and CEO.

China's appeal lies in a stable environment and consistent policy support for innovation, said Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. These advantages allow foreign companies to expand their businesses and generate stronger returns, Zhou said.

According to a recent report by the Ministry of Commerce, foreign-invested companies that filed annual reports for 2025 recorded an average profit margin of 8.7 percent.

Inflows from several major source economies also increased in the first nine months, with investment from France, Switzerland and the United States rising 31.8 percent, 26 percent and 7.7 percent year-on-year, respectively, ministry data showed.

Jiang said painstaking negotiations had helped keep China's economic and trade relations with the US and the European Union "broadly stable", providing a relatively sound international environment for businesses worldwide, including Chinese companies.

Alongside these efforts, China will strengthen intellectual property protections and ensure a level playing field for foreign firms, said Wu Di, an official with the ministry's department of foreign investment administration. China will also fully implement national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises, Wu said.

The ministry will also encourage more foreign investment in emerging and future industries and support foreign companies in accelerating technological innovation and upgrading their operations, helping drive coordinated digital and green transitions across their supply chains, he added.