FDI figures are out again and, depending on the headline you read, they are either up 5% or down 4% (all will be made clear below). In any case, there was a lot of it.

• China Daily notes that FDI in China was US$63 billion in 2006, up 4.47 percent from a year earlier, based on figures from Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai (whose father Bo Yibo, the last of the Communist party “Immortals” died on Monday).

• Forbes reports that FDI of US$69.47 billion 2006, down 4.06 pct from 2005, based on a Ministry of Commerce statement.

Clarification thankfully comes in the Forbes article, which goes on to say:

“The non-financial sector posted actual FDI of 63.02 bln usd, up 4.47 pct”.

So it seems the financial sector is the reason for the difference in figures. Regular readers will have known to look out for this sort of thing! (see more here and here).

See news sources.

Foreign investment in China rebounds
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-01-16 08:52

China 2006 actual FDI down 4.06 pct at 69.47 bln usd – commerce …
Forbes, NY - Jan 15, 2007
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – China posted 69.47 bln usd in actual foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006, down 4.06 pct from 2005, the Ministry of Commerce said in …

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