A total of 35,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were set up in China in the first half of 2026, representing a year-on-year growth of 7.0 percent, the State Administration for Market Regulation said on Saturday.
In the first six months, major export-oriented and frontier provincial-level regions became key players in the growth. The tropical island province of Hainan in south China recorded a 38.6-percent growth in the number of new foreign-invested enterprises in the first half of the year, while the coastal provinces of Shandong, Guangdong and Jiangsu reported year-on-year increases of 15.2 percent, 8.1 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, new foreign-invested enterprises in border provincial-level also logged remarkable growth, with Heilongjiang, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Guangxi and Jilin registering increases of 79.5 percent, 29.1 percent, 16.6 percent and 12.0 percent, respectively over the same period of last year.
The number of newly established enterprises in China with investment from Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partnership countries continued to rise in the first six months, with 11,000 new enterprises established in China by BRI partnership countries, Arab countries and African Union countries, up 19.3 percent, 20.6 percent, and 42.8 percent respectively.
China's consumer market is also emerging as a key area for attracting foreign investment. In the first half, newly established foreign-invested enterprises in the health and social work sector, wholesale and retail trade, and accommodation and catering services grew by 27.1 percent 11.9 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.
The country unveiled a 15-measure action plan to stabilize and optimize foreign investment utilization in June, focusing on expanding market access, streamlining investment procedures, boosting investment promotion, strengthening services and safeguards for foreign investors, and improving foreign capital management.
A new version of the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment, which took effect on Feb 1, aims to steer more foreign capital into advanced manufacturing, modern services, high-tech industries, energy conservation and environmental protection, as well as into the central, western and northeastern regions of the country.
Number of newly established foreign-invested firms in China up 7 percent in January-June
