A glorious sunset breaks over Zibo city. [Photo/VCG]
The actual use of foreign capital of Zibo city in East China's Shandong province increased by 25.8 percent year-on-year to $1.03 billion in 2022.
That's the first time it has exceeded $1 billion, according to recent data announced by the municipal bureau of commerce.
The structure of foreign investment utilization was widely viewed to have improved last year.
During the period, the city's actual utilization of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry reached $789.29 million, up 270 percent year-on-year. It accounted for 76.5 percent of the city's total, 47.5 percentage points higher than in 2021.
The actual utilization of foreign capital in the high-tech industries was $96.86 million, for year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent.
In addition, Zibo has devised flexible and diverse ways of utilizing its foreign investment. Profit reinvestment, debt-for-equity swaps, equity mergers and acquisitions and other methods generated $518 million in the actual utilization of foreign capital.
The major sources of investment growth last year were the UK and Japan, while domestically the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan province also starred.
The UK's investment growth was 2,800 percent year-on-year, while Japan's was 146.7 percent.
The combined growth in investment from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan province was 81.4 percent.
Furthermore, major projects in Zibo are said to have played a stronger role in driving the development of the actual use of its foreign capital.
There were seven projects with more than $50 million of foreign investment actually utilized, with a total of $692.72 million, accounting for 67.1 percent of the city's total.
