Ningbo's actual use of foreign investment totals $1.356b Jan-May

The actual utilization of foreign capital in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, reached $1.356 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8 percent, which is 9 percentage points higher than the national average, according to the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

In May alone, the city's actual use of foreign investment was $230 million, representing an increase of 9.5 percent year-on-year.

A head official from the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce pointed out that Ningbo is still attractive to investors despite the fact that transnational direct investment continues to be weak globally.

This is mostly due to large investments from several multinational enterprises such as Daimler, Fresenius, and Walmart.

In January, Daimler AG invested $2.21 billion in Ningbo to develop and produce electric vehicles under the German carmaker's "smart" brand for global markets.

In May, Ningbo Xingrun Enterprise Management Co Ltd was established in the city by China Resources Group and received a total of $390 million in investment.

To date, 66 foreign Fortune 500 enterprises have set up 145 branches in Ningbo.

Statistics show that a total of 163 foreign-funded enterprises were established in the city in the first five months of 2020, with the total value of contractual foreign investment reaching $5.288 billion, a year-on-year increase of 64.5 percent.

Most investment came from the US, Germany, and Japan, with the actual use of foreign capital from these three countries increasing by 229.3 percent, 35.5 percent, and 17.3 percent, respectively.

The majority of investment from overseas went to sectors such as automobile manufacturing, wholesale and retail, general equipment manufacturing, and more.

Meanwhile, seven mergers and acquisitions were carried out in Ningbo, with contractual foreign capital totaling $257 million.