Venture capital investments in China rose 5 percent year on year to a six-year high of about $2.5 billion in 2007. Half of that amount went into the commercial, consumer and retail sectors.

30-Year FDI Roundup

The amount of paid-in foreign direct investment (FDI) was $2.1 trillion from 1978 to 2007, a 23.5-percent year-on-year increase, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

The year 1978 marked the country's first effort to open up and reform its economy since the nation was founded in 1949. During the 30 years since then, a total of 286,200 foreign-invested companies were approved to invest in the mainland.

In recent years, China has tightened the environment for foreign-invested companies and encouraged good quality foreign investment instead of merely pursuing high numbers of foreign-invested companies. As a result, the number of foreign-invested companies dropped by 23 percent during the first two months of 2008, but their combined investment surged 75 percent.

The SAIC has pinpointed other trends in foreign investment in China, including:

-The number of foreign-invested real estate companies rose only 2.1 percent to 14,700 last year, due to macroeconomic policies.

-The government has not approved any foreign investment projects in the steel, cement or electrolyzed aluminum sectors since 2005. These are sectors that China is seeking to restructure.

-FDI in the manufacturing sector took the lion's share of newly established foreign companies.

-Wholesale and retail enterprises were the second-most common type of foreign projects, attracting 20,000 firms, up 26.49 percent year on year.

-Foreign-funded banks expanded rapidly last year, with 18 foreign banks locally incorporated since the government began to approve such operations in March 2007.

-Asian countries remained the biggest investment source for China, with 206,700 firms as of the beginning of 2007, followed by North America, the EU and Latin America.

Expo Central China

Expo Central China 2008, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, will be held on April 26-28 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, said Li Hongzhong, Governor of Hubei Province. With the theme of taking over the industrial shifting and promoting the rise of central China, the expo will focus on the logistics, finance, automobile, tourism, energy conservation, environmental protection, hi-tech and photoelectron industries.

Central China includes the six provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi and has a total population of 361 million, or 28.1 percent of the country's total.

Italian Fashion

In 2007, China's imports of Italian apparel totaled $201 million, up 25 percent year on year. They accounted for 11 percent of the imported garment market in China, according to figures from the Italian Trade Commission (ICE).

During the year, China's imports of wool fabrics from Italy were valued at $145 million, surging 33 percent from the same period a year ago. The market share of Italian wool fabrics in China was about 27 percent.

In order to promote the development of Italian fashion in China, the ICE will present three Italian haute couture brands, namely, Gattinoni, Grimaldi Giardina and Balestra, during China International Fashion Week on March 25-31. The commission also will organize an Italian national pavilion at the China International Clothing and Accessories Fair on March 28-31. Covering an area of more than 700 square meters, the pavilion will host more than 30 companies and 40 brands.

Numbers of the Week

30%

Air China Ltd., the country's largest international carrier, reported 2007 net profit of 3.88 billion yuan ($546 million), a 30.37-percent year-on-year increase, thanks to an increased number of passengers and higher investment returns.

Zero Loss

China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd., the biggest and most profitable non-state lender, reported 124.35 percent net profit growth in 2007. The bank's 2007 annual report said it had already sold off all its subprime-related products in 2006, before the international crisis started. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and the Bank of China Co. Ltd. were less lucky, and their subprime mortgage securities had cost them huge losses, although both reported profits in 2007.