Ningbo's use of foreign capital hits $1.74b Jan-April

A night view of Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

The actual utilization of foreign investment in Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province amounted to $1.74 billion in the first four months of this year, local authorities announced recently.

The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 47.4 percent, 21.5 percentage points and 48.7 percentage points higher than the national average and provincial average respectively, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

Ningbo was ranked second in terms of the scale of foreign investment in Zhejiang during the four-month period. The $1.74 billion was nearly half of the target set by the local government for this year.

The Ningbo area of the Zhejiang FTZ has become a hotspot for foreign capital. From January to April, the actual use of foreign investment in the area hit $530 million, an uptick of 57.1 percent year-on-year.

An official at the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce pointed out that high-tech industries are still a magnet for foreign capital. Over the four-month period, the actual use of foreign investment in the city's high-tech sectors soared 125.6 percent year-on-year to $720 million, according to official data.

Exponential growth was seen in high-tech manufacturing and services, which registered a year-on-year growth of 56.6 percent and 141.5 percent respectively.

Eighteen investment projects in the city with a combined contractual foreign capital of $1.66 billion saw their investment value surpass $30 million.