Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into China continued to rise, making the country the world’s largest FDI recipient, showcasing its attractiveness to foreign investors against the backdrop of a deep global recession and a pandemic.

China saw its FDI inflow rise 4 percent to $163 billion in 2020, making it the world’s top FDI recipient as global FDI plummeted by 42 percent, according to a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Sunday.

With the world economy wrecked by the pandemic, China’s economic resilience was first underlined by swift and effective measures to contain the epidemic and resume economic activity. They included a strict lockdown and mass early testing with broad public support.

The government relaunched the economy in the midst of epidemic control measures. On the premise of virus containment, different measures were implemented around the country to ensure the resumption of normal economic activities. FDI in China began to rise. From April, FDI inflows to China increased every month.

The latest survey by China’s Commerce Ministry showed that nearly 60 percent of foreign-funded enterprises in China achieved growth or the same income and profit in 2020. Nearly 95 percent of foreign-funded enterprise representatives reportedly expressed optimism or cautious optimism about the future.

China’s attractiveness as an investment destination and its economic resilience lie in its complete supply chain and massive market. As the world's factory and the largest developing economy, China boasts all the industrial categories classified by the UN. China ranks first in terms of output in nearly half of more than 500 major industrial products in the world.

In a pandemic-ravaged 2020, China staged an impressive V-shaped GDP recovery and is expected to be the only major economy to post growth, laying a solid foundation for investment recovery.

China in 2020 continued to facilitate foreign investment, retaining its attractiveness to foreign investors. In the early stages of the epidemic, the government created fast-track entry systems to facilitate the entry of foreign-invested enterprise personnel. Business and technical personnel from more than 60 countries entered China through the fast track system in 2020, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

Although trade and investment activities bogged down due to pandemic restrictions in many places in the world, China constantly promoted foreign investment and opening-up in 2020, creating a more open investment environment for foreign investors.

The negative list was shortened to the benefit of foreign investors, leading to broader market access to China’s pilot free trade zones. China struck the world’s largest trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with 14 other Asia-Pacific countries. China also concluded a long-anticipated comprehensive investment agreement with the European Union, its second-largest trade partner.

The epidemic slowed the economy for a while, but the influx of foreign investment serves a clear barometer to show that China has withstood the challenges and remains a strong magnet for global investors.