A total of 8,631 foreign-invested companies were established across China in January and February, marking a year-on-year increase of 14 percent, with the actual amount of foreign investment used reaching 161.45 billion yuan (over 23.4 billion U.S. dollars), down by 5.7 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
In the first two months, the actual amount of foreign investment used by the manufacturing industry reached 47.52 billion yuan (nearly 6.9 billion U.S. dollars), while for the service industry, the figure stood at 111.22 billion yuan (over 16 billion US dollars).
The actual amount of foreign investment used by the high-tech industry totaled 63.21 billion yuan (over 9.1 billion US dollars) in the two-month period, up 20.4 percent year on year, accounting for 39.2 percent of the national total, and marking an increase of 8.5 percentage points over the same period of last year.
Specifically, for research and development and design services, manufacturing of computers and office equipment, and manufacturing of electronic and telecommunications equipment, the actual use of foreign investment rose by 171.8 percent, 84.1 percent, and 35.5 percent, respectively.
In terms of countries, the actual investment from Canada, Switzerland and France in China in January and February increased by 210 percent, 41.3 percent and 3 percent year on year, respectively.
China sees establishment of more foreign-funded firms in January-February
The targeted killings of Iran's top leadership, including security chief Ali Larijani, have significantly narrowed diplomatic options and may push the country toward a more hawkish posture, according to a political analyst.
Tensions between Iran and Israeli-U.S. forces have continued to escalate, as a series of targeted strikes killed several high-ranking Iranian officials in recent days.
Among them were Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani, Gholam-Reza Soleimani, chief commander of the voluntary Basij force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib.
Larijani was widely seen as a pragmatic and experienced politician who played a central role in nuclear negotiations and was viewed by many as a bridge between Iran and the West.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has vowed that those responsible will soon have to pay.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Foad Izadi, a political analyst, suggested that the killing of Ali Larijani may represent an effort to eliminate any remaining hopes for diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States.
"He was a moderate [politician]. He basically wanted to make sure that Iran and the United States reach a political agreement. And I think the reason Israelis killed him was because Israelis don't want Iran and the United States to reach a political agreement. So, he was one of the people who could manage that between the political establishment here. And this is very logical: if these people are killed, the people who will replace individuals like Mr. Larijani will become more hawkish," Izadi said.
Funerals for Larijani and Basij commander Gholam-Reza Soleimani were held in Tehran, drawing a large number of mourners. They expressed both grief and anger, vowing revenge against the United States and Israel.
On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing the country's supreme leader, senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East.
Killing of Iran's top security officials narrows diplomatic path: political analyst
