ABSTRACT
The chapters in this volume have provided several perspectives on the impact of foreign investment on China’s economy and economic development. They have described the gradual approach that China has taken to inward foreign investment and the reasons for this approach. They have shown that although the raw investment numbers appear impressive, and there has been nearly USD 1.6 trillion in foreign direct investment since the onset of China’s reform program, in recent years the FDI inflows are actually small compared to the total investment in China’s economy. They have shown, through novel variations on economic impact assessment methods, that the actual impact of foreign investment and foreign invested enterprises is far greater than the raw investment figures would indicate. They have shown that there have been additional catalytic and spill over impacts that are difficult to quantify and that the leading initiatives to further economic development in four of China’s leading cities all focus on attracting more foreign investment. They have also shown that the academic and think tank literature has tended to focus on the impact of foreign investment on Chinese companies rather than China’s economy, and that some conclusions in this literature must be viewed with caution.
