China's Foreign Investment: Records and Declines in 2025!

China's Foreign Investment: Records and Declines in 2025!

Vehicles are produced at the BMW Brilliance plant Shenyang Tiexi in Liaoning, China. In the first four months of 2025, 18,832 new foreign-invested companies were founded in mainland China. This number represents a remarkable growth of 12.1 percent compared to the previous year. Still reported China.org.cn, that the actual utilized foreign direct investment was 320.78 billion yuan or about 44.6 billion U.S. dollars during the same period, a decrease of 10.9 percent year-on-year.

Foreign direct investment shows interesting trends in various sectors. The manufacturing sector saw investment of 84.06 billion yuan, while the service sector had the highest utilization of 231.25 billion yuan. High-tech industries reported investments of 96.71 billion yuan. Particularly notable is the increase in foreign direct investment in e-commerce, which grew by 137 percent, as well as in the aerospace industry, which grew by 86.2 percent, and in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry, which grew by 57.8 percent.

Overview of international investments

The attraction of foreign investments is promising despite the decline in direct investments. Investments from ASEAN countries rose by 42.9 percent. Japan recorded growth of 74.2 percent, while Switzerland reported an increase of 68.4 percent. Further significant increases came from Great Britain and the Republic of Korea with 54.6 percent and 22.3 percent, as well as from Germany, where investment increased by 12.3 percent.

In terms of trade balance, exports of foreign-funded enterprises in Guangdong, where the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone is also located, increased, reaching a significant US$21,532,141 million in December 2024. In comparison, exports in other provinces such as Henan and Shaanxi were significantly lower, at US$606,131 million and US$1,852,074 million, respectively, according to data from Ceicdata emerges.

Market developments and regional differences

The Liaoning region, where the BMW factory is located, reported exports of 1,775,480 million US dollars. Nationwide, total imports from foreign-funded enterprises amounted to US$72,805,209 million, underscoring the importance of these investments and exports to the Chinese economy.

The invested funds demonstrate not only China's attractiveness for international investors, but also the dynamic development of specific industrial sectors. These trends, coupled with the investment flows in various technologies, paint a promising picture for the country's future economic development.