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The study revealed that 45 per cent of multinationals prefer to invest in the Yangtze River Delta, which includes Shanghai and major cities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area is ranked as the second most preferable region, followed by the Pearl River Delta neighbouring Hong Kong.
"This shows the close integration of international investment with China's market demand," said Chai.
Coastal areas have already established competitive industrial groups by absorbing large amounts of overseas investment, so the new round of overseas investment will focus on the technological research and service sectors, which are crucial in boosting the development of traditional industries, according to Chai. Therefore, coastal regions remain the best choice for overseas investors.
His views were echoed by Hu Jingyan, director of the Ministry of Commerce's department of service trade, who said that the total value of China's service sector, usually including banking, insurance and transportation, only accounts for 40 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. This proportion is around 70 per cent in developed economies.