China’s FDI inflow down 1.47% in March

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland went down 1.47% year on year to 12.24 billion U.S. dollars in March, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. China is the world’s second-largest recipient of foreign direct investment. Non-financial foreign direct investment rose 5.25 percent year-on-year to $117 billion in 2013, according to the Ministry of Commerce . Chinese Officials are soliciting ideas to build a level playing ground for all businesses, domestic and overseas. “China should combine foreign investment law with company law, which will give national treatment to overseas companies on the Chinese mainland and pave the way for the country’s progress in corporate governance,” said Wang Zhile, a senior researcher on foreign investment at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank of the Ministry of Commerce. The National People’s Congress Standing Committee has said it will “speed up” research on a new corporate legal framework and will propose a draft when “conditions are ripe”.