Fitch: more selective policy not to keep foreign investment off China

Fitch, one of the world's leading rating agencies, said Tuesday that China has started to be more selective with foreign investment; and this change will not discourage foreign investment.

James McCormack, Fitch's managing director of Sovereign Ratings Asia Pacific, made these remarks in an interview with People's Daily Online. He recognized that foreign investment plays an important role in China's growth --- for the country's exports in particular.

In his view, countries will attract any foreign investment at the earlier stage of development, but can be more selective toward investment when they reach a certain stage of development. China is doing that by imposing stricter regulations in areas such as labor conditions and the environment.

He also thinks that by encouraging foreign investors to move from heavily-invested coastal areas to further inland areas, China would achieve its other goals; that is, mainly more balanced development between regions and narrower income gap.

He does not think that a change in policy would discourage foreign investors. There will still be a very large amount of foreign investment, he said.

Source: People's Daily Online