After a two-month downturn, China's foreign direct investment (FDI) finally picked up in September, indicating that investor confidence is returning.
The Ministry of Commerce said that foreign investments totaled over $9 billion last month, translating to an increase of 1.9 percent from last year's values.
From Q1 to Q3, foreign investments in China declined to $87.3 billion, a decrease of 1.4 percent. This decline persisted despite the country having over 17,000 foreign projects being established.
Despite the previous investment downturn, many international companies kept their trust in China because of its "massive domestic market, skillful labor and good insfrastructure," said ministry spokesman Shen Danyang.
"It remains the world's most attractive market for foreign investment and was also the fastest-growing market," said Shen.
Denying that many foreign investors abandoned dealings with China due to the downturns, the spokesman said that reforms will boost the country's production capability and attract foreign investors.
During the first nine months of 2014, the country's outbound direct investment (ODI) grew to almost $75 billion, a 21.6-percent increase. Notably, this year's September investments nearly doubled that of the previous year's.
Also in the January-September period, China's ODI in the European Union and Japan rose 218 percent and 150 percent, respectively.