BEIJING, Jan. 8 -- China still boasts favorable conditions to attract foreign investment, an official with the country's Ministry of Commerce told the China Economic Roundtable hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

Noting that China was estimated to contribute around one-third of the global growth and remain the biggest engine of global economic development in 2023, Zhu Bing, director of the commerce ministry's department of foreign investment administration, stated that the fundamentals of China's sound economic development remained constant in the long run.

Zhu added that multinationals value the Chinese market's massive scale, innovative competitiveness, and attractiveness of global innovation factor resources.

From January to November 2023, China's high-tech industries attracted investment of 386.65 billion yuan (about 54.45 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 37.2 percent of total foreign direct investment volume. During the period, the number of new foreign-invested firms in China increased by 36.2 percent year-on-year.

The data reflects the effectiveness of a series of policies issued by the government, such as the Catalog of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment, support for the development of foreign-funded research and development centers, and expansion of foreign investment in the manufacturing sector.

At the annual Central Economic Work Conference held last month, the country also pledged to expand high-level opening up and reinforce the stable performance in foreign trade and foreign investment.

Looking ahead, Zhu noted that more efforts will be made to ease market access. For example, the ministry will work hard to eliminate all restrictions for foreign investors entering the manufacturing industry, intensify stress tests on opening up in pilot free trade zones, and deepen opening up in the service sector.

Zhu said that China has extended its preferential tax policies for foreign nationals working in the country till the end of 2027, which gives a stable expectation for foreign investors.

The ministry will also step up efforts to go abroad to introduce investment opportunities in China, improve the working mechanism, and provide more support for local governments to attract foreign investment, Zhu added.

Many multinationals, according to Zhu, remain bullish on the Chinese market and committed to investing in China because "investing in China means investing in the future."

China Economic Roundtable is an all-media talk platform launched by Xinhua News Agency, with the third episode featuring foreign trade and investment.