Working Paper Series

Congressional Budget Office

Washington, DC

China’s Approach to Capital Flows Since 1978

Juann H. Hung

Macroeconomic Analysis Division

Congressional Budget Office

Email: Juannh@CBO.gov

April 2008

2008-02

Working papers in this series are preliminary and are circulated to stimulate discussion and

critical comment. These papers are not subject to CBO’s formal review and editing processes. The

analysis and conclusions expressed in them are those of the authors and should not be interpreted

as those of the Congressional Budget Office. References in publications should be cleared with the

authors. Papers in this series can be obtained at www.cbo.gov (select Publications and then

Working Papers). The author thanks Adam Weber for his valuable research assistance, and Bob

Dennis, John Peterson, Kim Kowalewski, Doug Hamilton, Bruce Arnold, and Joseph Kile for their

helpful comments.
2

China’s Approach to Capital Flows Since 1978

Abstract

Since China began its pro-market reform in 1978, its management of capital flows has

followed a cautious learning-by-doing approach, guided by the goal of propelling

strong economic growth while minimizing risk to stability. Claiming that the country’s

financial infrastructure is still not ready to deal with large swings of financial flows,

China has frequently fine-tuned restrictions of portfolio flows but generally kept a tight

rein of those flows. Meanwhile, promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows

(and outflows in recent years)—with the aim of accessing foreign management knowhow, technologies, raw material, and markets for exports—has been an important

element of China’s development strategy.

There is some evidence that China’s approach of encouraging FDI in strategic locations

and sectors while restricting portfolio flows has contributed to its high growth rates

since 1994. But that approach also has some problematic legacies. China’s FDI policies

may have exacerbated a pattern of unbalanced growth between rural and urban areas

and rising income inequality. China’s gradualist approach toward capital-account

liberalization also has retarded the development of an efficient domestic financial

market and well-functioning foreign exchange market, which need to be in place for

the smooth functioning of a flexible exchange rate system.
3

China’s Approach to Capital Flows Since 1978

1. Introduction

China began finding its way cautiously toward pro-market reforms and opening

its economy in late 1978. Its management of capital flows has followed a learning-bydoing approach, guided by the goal of propelling and sustaining economic growth and

development while minimizing risk to economic (and political) stability.

The government has frequently fine-tuned but generally kept a tight rein on

private portfolio flows, claiming that China’s financial infrastructure is still not ready

to deal with large swings of those flows. During periods when capital flight was a more

serious threat, controls over outflows tended to tighten while those over inflows

became more relaxed. In contrast, when inflows (betting on an appreciation of the yuan

or prices of financial assets in China) became more problematic, controls over them

tended to become more restrictive. In recent years, China has also lowered barriers on

portfolio outflows as a way to help ease the pressure of the rapid rise in its balance of

payments.

Promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows has remained an important

element of China’s development strategy since the (post-1978) reform era began. In the

early years of the reform era, China had small foreign exchange (FX) reserves and was

far behind technologically. Against that backdrop, attracting FDI inflows was viewed

as a way to jump-start China’s economic growth. Nevertheless, initiatives to promote

those inflows were timid and tentative at first, and FDI was allowed only in special

economic zones. Since 2004, China’s policymakers—enabled by its large holdings of

FX reserves—have also permitted outward FDI to rise rapidly. Both inward and
4

outward FDI deals appear to have aimed at accessing foreign technologies,

management skills, and export markets. It appears that outward FDI deals also have

given an added emphasis to securing raw materials which are critical to the

sustainability of China’s rapid growth.

There is some evidence that China’s approach to capital flows has contributed

to its economy’s high growth rates since 1994. Some studies—but not all—have found

that the rapid rise in FDI inflows has made an important contribution to China’s

growth.1 Most analysts agree that the government’s control over portfolio flows

shielded its economy from the 1997-1998 Asian crisis, when many of its neighboring

economies were buffeted by large swings in foreign capital flows. Some analysts also

argue that China’s ability to sustain its currency-peg regime since 1994, which was

underpinned by its tight controls of portfolio flows, played an important role in

maintaining China’s price stability and economic growth, though other analysts have

partly blamed the currency peg for the sharp rise in recent inflation.2 Up to 1994, China

was afflicted by cycles of boom and bust (Figure 1). After it consolidated the official

exchange rate and the swap rate and fixed the exchange rate at the lower swap rate in

1994, price inflation was brought down to 3 percent in 1997 (from over 20 percent in

1994), and the devastating cycles of boom and bust have not yet resurfaced.3 From

1 For example, see Whalley and Xin (2006) and Wei (1993).

2 For example, McKinnon (2007) argues that, given that China’s financial market is not ready to support

“normal” operations of monetary policies to allow the central bank to control inflation and that the Fed

has proved to be credible in keeping U.S. inflation under control, China’s policy of pegging its currency

to the dollar fixed exchange rate allows it to eliminate inflation expectations, thereby keeping price

stability and fostering an environment conducive to investment and growth.

3 Before 1994, the swap rate was allowed to float, forming a platform for a market mechanism. See

Section 3.1 for more detail.
5

1996 to 2007, China’s annual real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates averaged

9.2 percent, while consumer price inflation averaged about 1.9 percent.

Nevertheless, China’s approach to capital flows appears to also have some

problematic legacies. Its approach to encouraging FDI in selected industries and in

limited geographical areas, combined with its restrictions on labor mobility, may have

contributed to an unbalanced growth pattern that is partially responsible for the sharp

rise in income inequality between the urban and rural residents. The sharp rise in

China’s net exports, which to a large extent reflects exports of foreign-invested

enterprises, may have also added to the international community’s criticism of China’s

currency policies.

China’s controls over portfolio flows and its inflexible exchange rate system

also face mounting challenges: The sharp rise in its trade surplus and large net FDI

inflows may have fueled China’s overheating economy in recent years, causing

troubling upward pressures on asset-price inflation. Domestic stock markets has been

prone to rampant speculation in part because domestic stocks available for public

trading are limited while private portfolio outflows have been restricted. Since 2005,

China has rapidly relaxed controls over portfolio outflows as part of its efforts to cool

down its overheating economy and to relieve the upward pressure on its exchange rate.

However, in part because most investors are still betting that the yuan—which has been

allowed to appreciate only tiny increments each day until lately—will continue to rise

against the dollar, such partial liberalization of capital controls has not yet succeeded in
6

cooling the Chinese economy.4 Moreover, as international pressure for a more flexible

yuan grows, the downside of China’s past tight controls of portfolio flows has also

grown more obvious. Those tight controls helped to insulate China’s financial markets

from destabilizing swings of capital flows, but they have also retarded the development

of China’s FX infrastructure (i.e., the development of sufficient numbers of market

makers and instruments for hedging currency risks, such as forward contracts and

derivatives), which needs to be in place for the smooth functioning of a flexible

exchange rate system.

2. Foreign Direct Investment

This section looks into the role of the Chinese government, among other

factors, in propelling the rapid rise of FDI inflows over the past two decades. It then

discusses the impact of those inflows on the Chinese economy. Finally, it discusses the

surge in China’s FDI outflows since 2003.

2. 1. The Government’s Policies Toward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Inflows

China opened up to inward FDI in a cautious and experimental manner. In the

earlier years of the reform era, changes were slow and laws and regulations remained

rather restrictive. Pro-market reforms and policies toward FDI inflows were first

4 To relieve the rising pressure on the yuan to appreciate, the People’s Bank of China announced a

change in the exchange rate regime on July 21, 2005, replacing the yuan’s de facto peg to the U.S. dollar

by a crawling-peg regime, which uses a basket of currencies as a “reference” for the central parity that

will be announced at the end of each previous trading day. The yuan was allowed to appreciate or

depreciate a maximum of 0.3 percent each day from that parity. On May 21, 2007, that band was

widened to 0.5 percent. In practice, the movement of the yuan has been within a much narrower band

than officially allowed, even though the yuan’s appreciation against the dollar has quickened since early

2007. (The yuan appreciated 7.5 percent against the dollar over the 12 months since January 2007, more

than double the 3.6 percent rise over the 12 months since January 2006.)
7

experimented with in four special economic zones (SEZs) in 1980.5 In 1984, those

experiments were expanded to another 14 open coastal cities (OCCs); and generous tax

incentives were set up in both SEZs and OCCs with the goal of attracting FDI that

would bring along advanced technology. For example, in the first two years that a

foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) in those special economic zones or cities made a

profit, it was exempt from corporate income tax.6 In subsequent years, the same FIEs

would be subject to an average corporate income tax of 15 percent, less than half the

standard 33 percent paid by Chinese companies.7 FDI inflows jumped 98 percent in

1984 and continued to grow at double digit rates for several years (Figure 2). Growth

of FDI inflows began to fall in 1989, after the government’s harsh suppression of the

Tiananmen Square protest, and was nearly nil in 1990. In response, the government

began to take measures to reassure foreign investors. For example, a law was enacted

in 1990 to prohibit the state from nationalizing joint ventures and simplify the

procedures for new foreign investment. In 1991, the government eliminated a 10

percent tax imposed on distributed profits remitted abroad by FIEs. In 1992, Deng

Xiaoping’s speech during his tour of the south (of China) further reaffirmed China’s

5 Three of them (Shenzhen, Shantou, and Zhuhai) are in Guangdong Province; one of them (Xiamen) is

in Fujian Province.

6 FIEs are enterprises established in China by foreign investors using their own capital, including

enterprises funded with capital from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan (HMT). In China, any of a number

of legal entities can be considered FIEs, including equity joint ventures, cooperative joint ventures,

wholly owned foreign enterprises, and foreign-invested companies limited by shares. Though regarded

as independent businesses, FIEs must receive government approval and can operate only in certain

industries. To establish FIEs, foreign investors submit either their own investment proposals or choose

ones previously submitted by Chinese companies, in which case the FIEs become joint ventures with

Chinese partners.

7 See Prasad and Wei (2005) and Tseng and Zebregs (2002). Tseng and Zebregs also discuss other

factors that may have helped to attract FDI, such as market size; infrastructure; and the establishment of

open economic zones, which have more liberal investment and trade regimes than other areas.
8

commitment to pro-market reforms, and FDI soared in 1992 and 1993 (Figures 2 and

3). When those inflows declined somewhat following the 1997-1998 Asian crisis, the

government extended preferential treatment to FDI in energy, transportation, and

infrastructure industries. The profit tax on FIEs in the western region was reduced in an

attempt to promote development there.

After China’s accession to World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, FDI

inflows began to surge again. Since then, FDI flows from industrial countries have

risen substantially, and they have mainly gone to the financial service sector. After

2002, foreign banks were allowed to buy equity of domestic banks, although the share

of ownership could not exceed 20 percent for a single foreign investor or 25 percent for

total foreign ownership. In addition, foreign banks were allowed to provide yuan

service to domestic firms in open cities beginning in 2003. One aim of easing

restrictions of foreign ownership of domestic banks was to improve their corporate

governance and practices, thereby speeding up the development of the financial

markets and institutions.

Clearly, the government’s role in promoting FDI inflows was not limited to

improving the legal framework to make China a more welcoming and credible

environment for direct investment. It went further than that, with the passage of laws

that offered a variety of preferential treatment to FIEs in strategically important

industries and in selected cities or economic zones. Recognizing the long-term

distorting effects of such a complex network of tax laws, and because domestic

enterprises have stepped up their complaints against unfair tax treatment, the

government enacted a new corporate income tax law (which took effect on January 1,
9

2008) that consolidated tax rates of both domestic enterprises and FIEs at 25 percent.

But significant preferential tax treatment remains, as shown in Exhibit 1.

2.2. Market Drivers of FDI in China

Two factors—inexpensive labor and the potentially large market—are probably

the most notable and most agreed-upon market forces that have attracted FDI into

China.

Low labor costs have been especially important for attracting vertical

investment (investment intended to take advantage of low-cost production for

reexporting of its products abroad). In the early years of the reform era, FDI into China

was mostly dominated by such export-oriented investment. That export-oriented FDI

came mainly from other Asian economies that had pursued export-led growth but

whose domestic labor had become too costly to compete with Chinese labor. In

particular, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with their geographical proximity and cultural ties

to China, became the prime source of such FDI inflows. In 1992, combined FDI from

Hong Kong and Taiwan accounted about 78 percent of total inward FDI, with Hong

Kong alone accounting for 68.2 percent (Table 1).8

Since the mid-1990s, however, the fact that Chinese consumers have grown

wealthier has made the enormous market potential of China an increasingly more

8 It should be noted that a portion of FDI inflows from Hong Kong are likely to be due to round-tripping

(i.e., capital originating from China returning in disguise as FDI to take advantage of tax, tariff, and

other benefits) and inflows that actually originated from other countries. Estimates of total roundtripping ranged from 7 percent of inflows in 1996 to almost 25 percent in 1992.
10

important factor in attracting FDI.9 Thus, direct investments from North America and

Western Europe, which are heavily tilted to horizontal investments (i.e., investments

whose products are intended to service the Chinese domestic market), have grown

more sizable.10 After 2001, as China allowed foreign entry into its financial sector and

banking industries (to comply with conditions of its accession to the WTO), direct

investments from the United States and other OECD countries began to account for an

increasingly larger share of total FDI inflows to China, as those countries’ financial

firms competed to get a foothold in the Chinese market. In 1992, FDI from the

European Union, the United States, and Japan accounted for about 13 percent of total

FDI in China; by 2006, that share rose to 26 percent (Table 1).11

In addition to low labor costs and the potential of a large market, some

researchers suggest that the sharp rise in China’s FDI inflows over the past decade may

also have reflected deficiencies in China’s domestic capital markets. Private firms in

China have little access to external financing because most funds are funneled to stateowned enterprises. In particular, private firms have faced discrimination relative to

state-owned enterprises, both from the banking system (in terms of loan decisions by

9 The high prices American banks were willing to pay for a small share in China’s state-owned banks (of

questionable financial health) would seem irrational if those banks were not aiming to get a foothold in a

rapidly expanding market earlier than their rivals.

10 According to Whalley and Xin (2006), FIEs controlled by U.S. investors sold more than 80 percent of

their products locally in 2002. In comparison, FDI inflows from Japan have been more balanced between

vertical and horizontal investments, with about 45 percent of production for China’s domestic market.

11 The share of FDI inflows from major industrial countries, especially those from the United States, may

be even higher in recent years if adjusted for their FDI channeled through tax havens such as the British

Virgin Islands. FDI from the (British and U.S.) Virgin Islands accounted for 11.6 percent of total FDI

into China in 2002; that share rose to 16.2 percent by 2006. Meanwhile, contrary to the impression one

gets from financial news, the share of FDI from the United States had declined since it peaked at 10

percent in 2002, falling to a mere 4 percent by 2005 before recovering to 9 percent in 2006. Juxtaposing

these two pictures suggests that some U.S. multinational corporations may have set up corporations in

safe-haven locations to serve as a conduit for their direct investment in China.
11

state-owned banks) and the equity market (in terms of approval of stock listings.)12 As

a result, private firms may have taken advantage of pro-FDI policies and used foreign

joint ventures as a way to acquire needed capital in order to undertake investment.13

However, that phenomenon—to the extent it occurred—may have become

considerably less important since 2001: Foreign capital financed only 4.2 percent of

fixed investment from 2001 to 2006, down from over 8 percent during the 1990s

(Table 2).

2.3. Effects of Inward FDI on China’s Economy

China’s post-reform economic growth has been propelled mainly by rapid

growth in net exports, productivity growth, and investment.14 FDI inflows have made

important contributions to China’s growth through their effect on net exports and

productivity growth, even though they directly financed only about 6 percent of fixed

investment from 1981 to 2006 (Table 2). Given the existence of various obstacles on

labor mobility in China, however, the restrictions allowing FDI only in designated

special zones (or cities), along with the special incentives given to FDI in higher-tech

12 The banking system tends to make politically-motivated, rather than economic-motivated, loans to

state-owned enterprises; state-owned enterprises are also more likely to obtain approval for equityfinancing through the stock market.

13 Related to this view is the Bretton-Wood II hypothesis, which maintains that the Chinese have rapidly

accumulated foreign reserves in part to reduce foreign investors’ reluctance of investing in a still highrisk environment.

14 As pointed out by Prasad (2007), because of the high content of imported material in Chinese exports,

net exports’ direct contribution to China’s nominal GDP growth (from the perspective of growth

accounting) was not significant until after 2004, when China’s trade surplus surged. However, the

overall effect of net exports on growth should be much bigger than indicated by growth accounting

because investment growth, which is stimulated in part by exports, is counted solely as a component of

domestic demand growth in that accounting.
12

sectors with higher potential productivity growth, may have also contributed to rapidly

rising income inequality in China.

Contribution to Net Exports. FIEs have become increasingly important

contributors to the rise in China’s net exports since 2000 (Figures 4a and 4b). From

2000 to 2005, FIEs’ net exports share of China’s total net exports surged from a mere

10 percent to 53 percent. (During that period, China’s net exports rose from $24 billion

to $102 billion.) That contribution to net exports, however, appears to have peaked in

2005, perhaps reflecting the rising importance of horizontal FDI (whose products are

intended for the Chinese market).

FIEs’ role as rising net exporters was not established until after 1998. They

were still net importers in 1996 and 1997 (the only two years for which data are

available), perhaps in part because of the high cost of imported capital goods needed in

the initial stages of establishing a new enterprise.

FIEs may also have contributed to growth in net exports indirectly through

technology spillover to local Chinese firms. This is suggested by the shift in the

composition of China’s overall exports toward higher-value products at a faster speed

than the composition of FDI inflows. In the early 1990s, exports still mainly consisted

of garments and other low-value manufactured goods. But since then, they are

increasingly composed of higher-valued items, such as electronic goods. For example,

from 1994 to 2006, the share of higher-end exports categorized as machinery &

transport equipment surged from 18.1 percent of total exports to 47.1 percent, while

the share of miscellaneous manufactures (mostly apparel and clothing accessories and

footwear) fell from 41.3 percent to 24.6 percent (Table 4).
13

Contribution to Productivity Growth. Several studies have found that the

rapid growth in total factor productivity (TFP) is a main pillar of China’s real GDP

growth in the reform era, second only to capital formation. For example, Kuijs and

Wang (2006) found that capital accumulation contributed over 50 percent, and TFP

growth about 33 percent, to China’s output growth between 1978 and 2004, with

employment growth contributing the modest remainder. Bosworth and Collins (2007)

also have similar findings.

Some researchers argue that inward FDI has spurred TFP growth in China.

Whalley and Xin (2006) suggest that inward FDI may have contributed to real GDP

growth by as much as 3.9 percentage points annually in 2003 and 2004, about 41

percent of total GDP growth during that time. They further point out that this is mainly

because labor productivity of FIEs (which employed only about 3.2 percent of the

work force in those years) was about 9 times that of the non-FIE economy. Those

findings, though they may appear shockingly high, do not seem to be outside the realm

of likelihood in light of the sharp rise in the share of FIEs’ contributions to the rise in

China’s overall value added. Even though the share of foreign investment in financing

China’s total fixed investment has stayed modest (around 6 percent), FIEs’ share of

value added in the industrial sector (i.e., the manufacturing and mining sector) soared

from 11 percent in 1994 to 28 percent in 2004 (Figure 5).15 Since the industrial sector

accounted for about 47 percent of China’s GDP in 2004, the contribution of industrial

FIEs to GDP in that year amounted to about 13 percent (=0.28 * 0.47). But since FIEs

in the industrial sector accounted for only 64 percent of all FIEs in China, that 13

15 Because of capital controls, the vast majority of foreign investment is FDI.
14

percent is the lower bound of FIEs’ total contribution to China’s GDP in that year. If

we assume that the contributions of FIEs to GDP are about the same across all

industries to which they belong, then the contribution of all FIEs to GDP would have

been higher, at about 20 percent (=0.13/0.64) in 2004. This is a significant increase

from FIEs’ contribution to GDP in 1996, which was about 13 percent based on similar

imputations.16

FIEs may have boosted China’s productivity growth in part because of the rapid

rise in FDI in the IT (information technology), or communication, computer, and other

electronic equipment sector. From 1997 to 2001, FDI in the IT sector rose from 5.9

percent to 15.1 percent of total inward FDI (Table 3). The rise of FDI in the IT sector,

directly through FIEs’ own output and indirectly through the effect of technology

spillover from FIEs on the output of non-FIEs, caused the IT sector’s value-added

share in the industrial (i.e., mining and manufacturing) sector to rise rapidly from the

1997 through 2003 (Figure 6). The stable share of the industrial sector in China’s GDP

(around 45 percent) in turn implies that FIEs contributed significantly to China’s

growth during that time (Figure 7).

Contribution to Unbalanced Growth. The government’s policy toward FDI

inflows in high-tech industries and only in SEZs and selected cities, however, may

have contributed to an unbalanced growth that is now threatening the stability and

sustainability of China’s future growth. About 84 percent of FDI in China is located in

suburban/urban areas of nine provinces in recent years, with the other 20 provinces

16 Data on the share of industrial FIEs in total FIEs are not available before 1996. That share was 58

percent in 1996.
15

with vast rural lands sharing the remaining share.17 Given the existence of various

obstacles restricting labor mobility and the faster growth of the FIE subeconomy than

the non-FIE economy, the high concentration of FDI in urban areas has contributed to

the high concentration of job creation in those areas. 18 That uneven distribution of job

creation in turn has contributed to the rapidly rising income inequality in China.

Income inequality in China has grown rapidly even as the country’s GDP per

capita has grown faster than that of industrial economies, such as the United States, as

well as other emerging-market economies, such as India (Table 5). According to

official data, annual per capita income of urban dwellers rose more than sixfold from

1985 ($250) to 2006 ($1,600); in contrast, per capita income of rural dwellers during

that period rose only threefold, from about $200 to $600 (Figure 8). Since a potentially

large number of rural people may not be counted in official data because of the onechild policy, that gap could be even larger than the official data indicate. However,

unbalanced growth between urban and rural areas and rising inequality are hallmarks of

countries undergoing rapid development, so the precise role of FDI policy is hard to

determine.

17 See Whalley and Xin (2006).

18 Labor movements have continued to be restricted by the household registration (hukou) system, even

though some reforms to that system have been initiated since the mid-1990s. Migrant workers who could

not obtain household registration are considered illegal immigrants, deprived of social benefits—such as

police protection and public education for their children. Consequently, China’s employment growth

mainly occurred in cities, with little growth in rural areas. Even though firms in the booming cities are

facing a labor shortage, they cannot easily tap the surplus labor from rural areas or other cities. See

Whalley and Zhang (2004).
16

2.4. Outward FDI

China’s FDI outflows remained relatively insignificant for most the post-1978

reform era (Figure 3). However, as China’s rapidly growing FX reserves began to put

increasing upward pressure on the Chinese exchange rate and asset prices in 2004, the

country’s policy on FDI outflows shifted toward a more liberal regime, and those

outflows began to surge.19 That shift was partly aimed at reducing the extent to which

its currency needed to appreciate and the urgency of that appreciation. The shift

occurred when ensuring a steady supply of raw materials to sustain China’s rapid

economic catch-up had become more urgent than ever, and after China had acquired

enough FX reserves to afford direct investment abroad.

China’s approach to outward FDI, like its approach to inward FDI, is closely

tied to its strategy of accelerating its economic development through accessing foreign

technology and management skills, export markets, and raw materials. For now,

however, ensuring a steady supply of raw materials appears to have topped other

objectives.20 For example, from 2003 to 2006, the lion’s share of China’s outward FDI

(36 percent) went into the mining sector (Table 6). The two other major sectors that

also received large shares of China’s outward FDI were those important in facilitating

sales of Chinese products in their overseas markets as well in transmitting marketing

and logistical skills to Chinese firms at home. From 2003 to 2006, on average, the

19 For example, in 2005 some domestic firms were allowed to set up corporations abroad to facilitate

overseas listing, mergers, and acquisitions.

20 China’s strong demand for raw material in the past several years has been cited as a major factor

behind the rapid rise in prices of commodities such as petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, and copper, etc.
17

transport, storage, and postal service sector received 8 percent of total FDI outflows,

while the leasing and commercial services sector received 22 percent.

The impression one gets from the press—that China’s foreign direct

investments have concentrated heavily in strategic sectors in Africa and in Latin

America—turns out to be unsupported by the data. Indeed, other Asian countries have

persisted as the largest recipients of China’s FDI outflows, followed by Latin America

at a distance. Even though it appears that Latin America has overtaken Asia as the

largest recipient of those outflows after 2004, that picture is misleading because the

Cayman Islands—a popular tax haven—accounted for over 80 percent of China’s

outward FDI received by the region (Table 7).21 Indeed, assuming for illustration

purposes that all China’s FDI in the Cayman Islands eventually went somewhere other

than either Asia or Latin America (i.e., North America, Europe, or Africa), the share of

China’s FDI in Latin America (excluding the Cayman Islands) would have been only 4

percent in 2006, considerably below the share in Asia, which was 44 percent that year.

Despite the flurry of news about China’s overseas investment, China’s FDI

outflows are still dwarfed by its FDI inflows or portfolio outflows. Even after a couple

of years of sharp growth, China’s FDI outflows reached only $18 billion by 2006, just

a fraction of its FDI inflows ($78 billion) or portfolio outflows ($110 billion) in that

year. That portfolio outflows were much larger than FDI outflows seems to confirm a

21 The Cayman Islands is a popular tax haven because there are no income taxes, capital gains taxes,

profits taxes, or estate taxes there. Its laws also allow companies to be formed with a minimum of

paperwork. Thus, business transactions could be easily routed through the Cayman Islands to take

advantage of the favorable tax laws. For example, a company in country X, which ultimately sells to

U.S. department stores, might first sell its products to a Cayman subsidiary, which then resells those

products to U.S. stores. The effect is to “book” the sale in the Caymans—with a zero tax rate— rather

than in country X, with its high corporate tax rate. A wealthy individual subject to high income and

estate taxes in his own country could also unload his ownership of wealth to corporations or trusts set up

in the Cayman Islands to avoid those taxes.
18

report by The Economist that Chinese firms are less keen on acquiring a majority stake

in foreign companies than on trying to gain experience (in management skills, industryspecific technology, and other know-how, etc.) by taking minority stakes in them.22

3. Portfolio Investment

The Chinese government’s control over portfolio flows has been closely

intertwined with its exchange rate policies, evolving roughly along a learning-by-doing

approach.23 Maintaining exchange rate stability has been one of several aims of

China’s capital-control measures. The authorities state that they will not consider

allowing the yuan to float freely until they feel that they are ready for full capitalaccount liberalization. Instead, China has resorted to fine-tuning its controls over

portfolio flows to maintain the stability of its exchange rate and its economy since the

beginning of the reform era. But that approach is now facing many challenges.

3.1. The Evolution of China’s Control over Portfolio Flows

The Chinese authorities have frequently adjusted the exchange rate and capitalcontrol arrangements since the late 1970s, aiming to find the system that would

facilitate the country’s economic growth and development with minimum risk to

economic and political stability. In the initial years, the yuan was substantially

overvalued, and China began running a current-account deficit in 1985. The authorities

22 See “Trojan Dragons,” The Economist, November 1, 2007.

23 For example, Zhao (2006) notes that, “In mid-1978 the China Communist Party ... established a

philosophy that ‘Practice is the sole criterion to test truth. . . .’ Following this philosophy, . . . [China’s]

external liberalization has been experimental and gradual, making it evolutionary rather than

revolutionary.”
19

were forced to devalue the yuan several times for the first two decades of the reform

era (Figure 9). The exchange rate system changed from a centrally planned

administrative mechanism to a dual exchange rate system, then to a managed float with

a narrow band, followed by a de facto peg to the U.S. dollar, and finally to a managed

float with slightly widened band. Along the way, the authorities revised capital-control

measures several times, aiming to stem capital flight at some times and block inflows

at other times, to support the stability of those exchange rate regimes.

Overall, the evolution of China’s capital-controls can be roughly broken into

seven phases:

(1) 1978-1985: China cautiously opened up to capital inflows. In December

1978, the Chinese government initiated economic reform and started opening up to the

rest of the world. The aim of those policies was to jump start the economy by tapping

foreign capital to fund investment and attracting foreign technology to promote export

growth and import substitution. The exchange rate system was supposed to facilitate

those goals in an economic system that kept central planning at the core while allowing

market mechanism to function at the margin.

Finding the “equilibrium” exchange rate of the yuan without the help of a wellfunctioning FX market turned out to be difficult. In 1981, China introduced a dual

exchange rate system: an internal settlement (2.8 yuan/dollar) rate for authorized

current-account transactions and an official rate for other transactions (1.5 yuan/dollar).

The dual exchange rate system was intended to boost foreign exchange reserves, which

stood at $2.3 billion in 1980. Domestic enterprises had to surrender foreign exchange

earnings to the state and received yuan at the official exchange rate. Depending on the
20

source of the exchange earnings, they could also receive a share of the surrendered

foreign exchange as “retention quotas.”

The official rate proved to be unsustainably high and was gradually devalued.

On January 1, 1985, the official rate was eventually unified with the settlement rate at

2.8 yuan/dollar. All transactions were to be settled at the official rate, and the

settlement rate was discontinued. However, judging from the continuing decline of

China’s current account balance (to -3.7 percent of GDP in 1985), the yuan was still

overvalued even at the consolidated rate (Figure 9). Subsequently, the official rate fell

to 3.72 yuan/dollar by the end of 1986, a depreciation of 25 percent from its value in

early 1985.

(2) 1986-1991: Capital controls were first eased but then retightened. In

1986, China reintroduced a dual exchange rate system in 1986, and swaps centers

(formally, Foreign Exchange Adjustment Centers) were established in some cities.

Foreign-invested enterprises and Chinese enterprises with retention quotas (of foreign

exchange) were permitted to trade foreign exchange among themselves at a rate

different from the official rate in those swap centers. All domestic banks were also

allowed to conduct foreign exchange business.

By 1988, most cities had established foreign exchange swap centers. The

trading volume in swap centers steadily increased, and more firms were allowed to

trade in the swap market. As the swap rates continued to decline, the fixed official rate

was under increasing downward pressure. The authorities managed to keep the official

rate at 3.72 yuan/dollar for nearly three years but finally gave in and, in December

1989, began a sequence of devaluating the yuan. The official rate subsequently fell to
21

5.22 yuan/dollar by March 1991. In April 1991, the official exchange rate regime was

changed from a periodical adjustment to a managed float, allowing the authorities to

adjust the rate even more frequently.

The swap market rates generated market distortions and became problematic in

the late 1980s and early 1990s. (China had one official foreign exchange rate and often

many market exchange rates because of imperfect arbitrage between swap centers.)

Against this backdrop, rules and regulations were introduced to strengthen the

supervision of external transactions. For example:

• All receipts of foreign-invested enterprises in foreign currencies were to be

deposited in domestic banks, and all expenditures in foreign currencies were to

be paid from those accounts.

• A domestic enterprise could invest overseas with its own foreign exchange

earnings, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) had to

examine the source of its foreign exchange earnings. The investing enterprise

had to deposit 5 percent of the investment in a special account of a bank

designated by SAFE. The profits and other foreign exchange earnings were

supposed to be repatriated home and surrendered to the state.

• A ceiling was imposed on the outstanding short-term external debt of each

financial institution.

• All firms conducting foreign trade were required to submit to SAFE a copy of

their export contracts, customs declaration forms, and cash vouchers. SAFE

could launch investigations and impose punishments on firms that failed to

provide these documents verifying repatriation of exports proceeds.

(3) 1992-1993: Capital controls on inflows were eased following the

Tiananmen Square suppression. After the growth of capital inflows ground to a halt

following the harsh suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest, Deng Xiaoping

called for an acceleration of reforms and an opening up during his famous “tour

through the south” in early 1992. His view was soon endorsed by the Congress of the
22

Communist Party. The authorities officially accepted a market-based floating exchange

regime and current-account convertibility as the ultimate goals of the exchange reform.

Besides FDI inflows, China started exploring more channels to use foreign capital. In

1992, the B-share market was launched in Shenzhen and Shanghai, allowing domestic

corporations to issue shares denominated foreign currencies, which only nonresidents

were allowed to buy. In 1993, nonbank financial institutions were allowed to conduct

business in foreign currencies.

However, accelerated liberalization in the external and financial sectors may

have contributed to economic overheating in 1992 and 1993. Price inflation soared

from about 5 percent in 1992 to 24 percent in 1994. The average annual growth rate of

real GDP surged to 14 percent in 1992 and 1993 (Figure 2). The current-account

balance swung from a surplus of $13.3 billion (3.1 percent of GDP) in 1991 to a deficit

11.9 billion (-1.8 percent of GDP) in 1993. The high inflation and a rapidly falling

current account drove expectations of further depreciation of the yuan. The exchange

rate in the swap market fell to over 10 yuan/dollar in mid 1993, before intervention by

the People’s Bank of China lifted it to 8.7 yuan/dollar at the end of 1993. (Meanwhile,

the official rate remained at a much higher 5.8 yuan/dollar.) Against this backdrop,

reforming the exchange rate regime became an urgent issue.

(4) 1994-1996: Controls on inflows were tightened, while controls on

outflows eased, to support the new exchange rate regime and combat inflation.

On January 1, 1994, the official and swap market exchange rates were unified at the

prevailing swap market exchange rate (8.7 yuan/dollar). The unified exchange rate

regime was a managed floating rate with a narrow band (+/- 0.25 percent) in each
23

trading day. The China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) became operational,

creating an integrated system of foreign exchange trading centralized in Shanghai. The

swap centers in the old regime became branches of the Shanghai market. A two-tier

trading system was established. Firms traded foreign exchange with banks. Banks

traded their net foreign exchange position in CFETS. As exchange rate flexibility

increased, foreign exchange designated banks were allowed to offer yuan forward

products for firms to hedge exchange risk.

Firms were no longer allowed to retain foreign exchange for current-account

transactions. They had to surrender their foreign exchange earnings from such

transactions at the official rate and purchase foreign exchange when a payment in

foreign currency was needed. Foreign exchange proceeds from capital-account

transactions could not be converted into renminbi (RMB, or yuan), unless approved by

SAFE.

After those policy changes, credit growth cooled and inflation moderated. The

current-account deficit turned into a surplus by 1994, and the yuan gradually

appreciated to 8.45 by the end of 1994. However, the expectation of further

appreciation of the yuan in turn induced large speculative capital inflows through

loopholes and all sorts of schemes, partially offsetting the government efforts to

contain the overheating.

In response, measures were taken to relax restrictions on capital outflows and to

enhance controls over inflows. Except for FDI, all financial-account transactions were

to be approved by SAFE case by case.
24

(5) 1997-2000: Controls on outflows were tightened, while restrictions on

inflows eased in the aftermath of the Asian crisis. Capital outflows became an

increasing problem in late 1997 and early 1998, as the eruption of the Asian crisis in

the summer of 1997 prompted concerns about the devaluation of the RMB. FDI

inflows remained strong. But large portfolio outflows ensued, as foreign banks sharply

reduced their exposure, causing the financial account to turn from a surplus of $21

billion in 1997 to a deficit of $6 billion in 1998 (Table 8). Illegal capital flight, which

can be roughly estimated by the errors and omissions in the balance of payments

account, rose sharply in 1997 and remained high in 1998 and 1999.24

To reduce illegal capital outflows and maintain a stable exchange rate, the

authorities tightened the screening of capital-account transactions and imposed severe

penalties, such as imprisonment, for fraudulent behavior. Meanwhile, controls of

inflows were relaxed. Restrictions on extending external guarantees, issuing bonds in

the international market, and FIEs’ borrowing in yuan were relaxed.

The banking industry also began to open up to foreign investment. In 1997, 13

more cities were opened for foreign banks to conduct business in RMB, adding to the 5

open cities already in place. In 1999, the geographic restriction on foreign banks was

repealed, though such restrictions on foreign banks’ conducting business in the yuan

remained. Moreover, foreign banks were allowed to invest in domestic banks, in hope

24 The entry for errors and omissions in China’s balance of payments accounting can be used to extract

information on illicit portfolio financial flows. China’s policy of allowing current-account convertibility

but not financial-account convertibility (except for FDI inflows) suggests that the entry for errors and

omissions—the gap between the change in foreign reserves and the combined balance of both the current

account and the financial account—is mostly due to underreporting or overreporting of financial (rather

than current-account) flows.
25

that this would improve domestic banks’ corporate governance and promote sound

practices.

During the Asian financial crisis, the trading band of ±0.25 percent was

narrowed further. Even though the regime was still nominally a managed float, China

had essentially operated it as a de facto peg to the dollar and the exchange rate was

kept at 8.28 yuan/dollar until July 2005.

(6) 2001-2004: Portfolio inflows were eased following China’s accession to

the WTO. China’s accession to the WTO in December 2001 marked a new stage for

China’s external liberalization. In addition to committing to tariff cuts, China has

promised that a large number of key services—including important business services,

courier services, wholesale trade, franchising, tourism services, rail and road transport,

and freight forwarding services—will be fully or almost fully open to foreign entry by

2008. Substantial foreign entry will also be allowed in many other services—including

in telecommunications, audiovisual services, construction, retail trade, insurance,

banking, securities, and maritime transport.

Since then, China has made rapid progress toward opening up its financial

sector to foreign investment. More cities were opened to foreign banks to conduct

business in the RMB. In addition to the liberalization of direct investment by foreign

banks, domestic investors have been allowed to invest in B-shares with self-owned

foreign exchange earnings since 2001. Starting in 2002, qualified foreign institutional

investors (QFII) have been allowed to invest in the domestic capital market (bond and

stock markets). Consequently, from 2001 to 2004, portfolio inflows dwarfed outflows,

contributing to upward pressure on the yuan exchange rate.
26

(7) 2005-Present: Portfolio outflows are encouraged to ease the upward

pressure on the yuan. The Chinese government has long maintained that the yuan is

not ready to float until the country’s FX and financial markets are ready to manage the

potentially large swings of portfolio flows. Therefore, instead of allowing the rapid rise

in China’s current-account surplus and net capital inflows to freely drive up the yuan

exchange rate, the authorities began to lower barriers on capital outflows and tighten

restrictions of portfolio inflows to help relieve that upward pressure on the yuan.25

Since 2004, for example, the government has allowed multinational corporations

operating in China more freedom to move funds in and out of the country, insurance

companies to invest in foreign-currency-denominated assets overseas, social insurance

funds to invest in overseas securities markets, qualified foreign institutions to issue

RMB-denominated bonds in China, and emigrants as well as overseas citizens

receiving inheritances to transfer their property abroad. In 2005, the first foreign

company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Corporations were allowed to

keep all of their foreign exchange earnings in their own accounts, up from 80 percent

previously. Since early 2006, qualified domestic institutional investors—basically local

fund managers and banks—have been permitted to invest money offshore. Most

recently (on December 17, 2007), the China Banking Regulatory Commission also

announced that Chinese citizens would soon be able to buy shares and mutual funds in

London and New York through their local banks.

25 Since July 21, 2005, the yuan was also allowed to fluctuate within a band of 0.3 percent each day from

the parity established the previous day. That band was widened to 0.5 percent since May 21, 2007.
27

Portfolio outflows began to surge after 2004, outgrowing the rise in inflows

(Figures 10 and 11). In 2004, portfolio inflows still exceeded outflows by $20 billion;

but by 2006, outflows exceeded inflows by $68 billion—amounting to a reversal of net

capital inflows of $88 billion (Table 8). Using an alternative gauge of net portfolio

inflows—which adjusts for the error-and-omission balance (shown in Table 8 as the

adjusted net portfolio inflows), the reversal is an even greater $127 billion (from a $47

billion net inflow to a $80 net outflow).

4.2. The Challenges Ahead

In view of the country’s past struggles with swings in capital flows, it is not

surprising that China is reluctant to abolish capital controls before its financial market

is ready. Even though China has begun liberalizing its financial services industry at a

rapid pace since its accession to the WTO, it is questionable whether its banks and

capital markets can now function efficiently as financial intermediaries. As long as its

financial sector is still underdeveloped, portfolio inflows are likely to be used

inefficiently. The banking and corporate sectors may also tend to increase their

exposure to currency risk faster than their ability to manage that risk, a problem that

was central to the Asian crisis of 1997-1998. At the same time, once capital is allowed

to exit freely, a large amount of capital flight could occur if perceptions of political

uncertainty suddenly increase.

Most economists also agree that it is unwise for countries (such as China),

where FX trading is inhibited (either by incomplete markets or government regulations
28

or both), to plunge into a floating exchange rate regime.26 A sufficient number of

market makers willing and able to take open positions is an important factor for a

reasonably smooth market-based float.27 Despite all the progress China has made so

far, Chinese commercial banks are still constrained in their ability to take large open

positions to fulfill their roles as FX market makers for a variety of reasons: The

domestic bond market is still not sufficiently deep and liquid, the domestic banking

system is still tightly regulated, and capital controls are not near to being completely

abolished. With no natural market makers in the system, an immediate switch to freely

float the yuan would very likely result in wildly erratic movements in the yuan

exchange rate, while the ability and options of traders (exporters and importers) to

hedge currency risks would still be limited.

Some economists, such as Eichengreen (2006), argue that the progress already

made toward partial liberalization of capital controls actually makes it even more

urgent for China to allow the yuan greater flexibility (under a managed float).

Currently, China’s crawling-peg exchange rate regime allows the yuan to move within

26 Those economists include McKinnon (2007) and Eichengreen (2006). Even analysts in the Peterson

Institute for International Economics, who are among the most critical of China’s slowness in allowing

its currency to appreciate, do not believe China is ready to adopt a free float yet. Goldstein and Lardy

(2003), and more recently Goldstein (2004, 2007), maintain that “full capital account liberalization in

China has to wait for a strengthening of China’s banking and financial system—not that exchange rate

appreciation has to wait for financial-sector reform.” Since a free-floating exchange rate is not advisable

without full capital-account liberalization, they have advocated that China should first revalue its

currency in one big step (by about 20 percent to 25 percent from its level in June 2005) and widen the

currency band substantially (to between 5 percent and 7 percent). After that first-stage reform and after

China has strengthened its domestic financial system enough to permit a significant liberalization of

capital outflows, then the country should then adopt a managed float.

27 In countries where FX trading is not inhibited and is well functioning, large banks normally have

direct access to the international market and are the dealers that match buy and sell orders for the

domestic currency. In the absence of government intervention (including playing the role of a market

maker), these dealers must continually take open positions—for or against the domestic currency—in

order to “make” the foreign exchange market. In doing so, they provide depth and liquidity to the

market, helping to stabilize the currency (at least in a well-behaved market).
29

a band of only 0.5 percent from the central parity announced the previous day, making

it relatively easy for speculators to make one-way bets. Given that most investors

consider the yuan to still be significantly undervalued, lowering restrictions on capital

outflows could only encourage more speculative inflows, rendering the authorities less

capable of insulating the economy from the effects of those inflows.

The authorities thus are facing a dilemma. The risk is high if China floats the

yuan before its financial and FX markets are up to speed. The risk is also high if capital

flows are liberalized while its financial market is still underdeveloped and its exchange

rate is heavily managed. Continuing to restrict portfolio flows, however, will continue

to inhibit the development of its financial and FX markets, delaying the time when the

yuan is ready to float. Meanwhile, the cost of delaying the yuan’s eventual shift to

float—manifested in the effect that the rapidly rising FX reserves have on inflationary

pressure and economic overheating—is mounting steadily. Given the Chinese

economy’s sizable weight in the global economy, especially in the Asian region, the

stakes are high in China’s transition toward floating its exchange rate.

5. Conclusion

China’s economic growth since the early 1990s has been very rapid, with

growth of income per capita averaging about 9 percent a year. In some aspects, China’s

record is even more impressive than those of the four Asian newly industrialized

economies (Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan). This paper discusses

the contribution that China’s approach toward capital flows appears to have made to

that record.
30

But China’s approach to capital flows is not an unqualified success. It may have

contributed to a pattern of unbalanced growth and rising income inequality, which risks

the sustainability of its rapid growth. China’s fine-tuning and gradualist approach

toward capital-account liberalization, necessary to sustain its currency-peg exchange

rate policy, may have also retarded the development of an efficient domestic financial

market and well-functioning foreign exchange market. The acceleration of liberalizing

portfolio flows since 2001 has contributed to notable progress in the financial sector;

however, given China’s currency-peg regime, it also further hampers the Chinese

central bank’s ability to rein in inflation and an overheating economy. Now that China

has grown into a major world economy, whether it can successfully manage the

transition toward full capital-account convertibility and a free-floating exchange rate

matters not only to China but also to the global economy.
31

References

Bosworth, Barry, and Susan Collins (2007), “Accounting for Growth: Comparing

China and India,” NBER Working Paper No. 12943.

Eichengreen, Barry (2006), “China’s Exchange Rate Regime: The Long and Short of

It,” Manuscript, University of California Berkeley.

Goldstein, Morris (2004), “Adjusting China’s Exchange Rate Policies,” Peterson

Institute for International Economics, Working Paper 04-1.

Goldstein, Morris (2007), “A (Lack of) Progress Report on China’s Exchange Rate

Policies,” Peterson Institute for International Economics, Working Paper.

Goldstein, Morris, and Nicholas Lardy (2003), “Two-Step Currency Reform for

China,” Asian Wall Street Journal, September 12.

Kuijs, Louis, and Tao Wang (2006), “China’s Patten of Growth: Moving to

Sustainability and Reducing Inequality,” China & World Economy, No.1.

McKinnon, Ronald (2007), “Why China Should Keep Its Dollar Peg: A Historical

Perspective from Japan,” Stanford University Working Paper No. 323.

Prasad, Esward, and Shang-Jin Wei (2005), “The Chinese approach to Capital Inflows:

Patterns and Possible Explanations” NBER Working Paper No. 11306.

Prasad, Esward (2007), “Is the Chinese Growth Miracle Built to Last?” Manuscript,

Cornell University.

Tseng, Wanda, and Harm Zebregs (2002), “Foreign Direct Investment in China: Some

Lessons for Other Countries,” IMF Policy Discussion Paper, February.

Wei, Shang-Jin (1993), “The Open Door Policy and China’s Rapid Growth: Evidence

from City-level Data,” NBER Working Paper No. 4602.

Whalley, John, and Xian Xin (2006), “China’s FDI and Non-FDI Economies and the

Sustainability of Future High Chinese Growth,” NBER Working Paper No. 12249.

Whalley, John, and Zhang Shunming (2004), “Inequality Change In China and

(Hukou) Labour Mobility Restrictions,” NBER Working Paper 10683.

Zhao, Min (2006), “External Liberalization and the Evolution of China’s Exchange

System: an Empirical Approach,” World Bank China Office Research Paper No. 4.
32

Exhibit 1: Key Aspects of China’s New Corporate Income Tax Law Related to

Preferential Tax Treatments, Effective January 2008

Tax Rate Tax rate standardized at 25% for domestic enterprises (DEs)

and foreign-invested enterprieses (FIEs)

Preferential Tax Treatment Reduced tax rate of 20% for "small and thin profit"

companies; and 15% for encouraged high/new-tech

enterprises

Expansion of the tax incentives for venture capital

businesses and for investments in environmental protection,

energy and water saving and safe production techniques

Retention of tax incentives for investments in agriculture,

forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and basic public

infrastructure projects

Replacement of tax incentives for labor service enterprises,

public welfare enterprises, and enterprises that utilize

comprehensive resources

Continuation of tax incentives for newly established high-/

new-tech enterprises in special economic zones and

Shanghai Pudong New Area; and for encouraged

enterprises in Western regions

Cancellation of an existing tax holiday available to general

production enterprises and to export-oriented enterprises

New tax reduction/exemption for income generated from

environmental protection and energy and water saving

projects and technology transfer that meets prescribed

criteria

Grandfathering of the

Current Preferential Tax

Treatment

Current reduced tax rates (15% or 24%) for existing FIEs will

be gradually increased to the standardized rate within the

five years after the implementation of the corporate income

tax (CIT) law.

Unused tax holiday for existing FIEs is grandfathered until

the expiration.

In instances in which a tax holiday did not start because of

loss situations, the tax holiday shall be deemed to

commence from the effective date of the unified CIT law.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hong Kong.
33

Figure 2. China's Foreign Direct Investment Flows

Percent Change from Previous Year

-25

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

Inflow (Left) Outflow (Right)

Source: State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Figure 1. China's Real Gross Domestic Product and Consumer Price Index

Percent Change from Previous Year

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

CPI

Real GDP

Source: China National Bureau of Statistics.
34

Figure 3. China's Foreign Direct Investment Flows

Billions of US$

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Outflow

Inflow

Source: State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Figure 4a. China's Trade Balances: Total vs. Foreign-Invested Enterprises’

Billions of US$

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Total

FIEs

Source: CEIC.

Note: FIE = foreign-invested enterprise.
35

Figure 4b. Ratio of China's Foreign-Invested Enterprises’ Trade Balance to Total Balance

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Source: CEIC.

Figure 5. Value Added of Mining and Manufacturing in China: FIEs vs. HMT

Percent of Total Value Added of Mining and Manufacturing

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

HMT TOTAL FIE

Source: CEIC.

Notes: FIE = foreign-invested enterprise; HMT = Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan; 2004 is interpolated.
36

Figure 6. Value Added of Selected Industries in China

Percent of Total Value Added of Mining and Manufacturing

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Communication, Computer,

& Other Electronic

Garments, Footwear,

& Headgear

Textiles

Source: CEIC.

Note: 2004 is interpolated.

Figure 7. China's Gross Domestic Product by Sector

Percent

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006

Agriculture

Mining and

Manufacturing

Services

Source: China National Bureau of Statistics.
37

Figure 8. Annual Income per Capita in China: Urban vs. Rural

US$

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Urban

Rural

Source: CEIC.

Note: 1986 rural income per capita is interpolated.
38

Figure 9. China’s Current-Account Balance and the RMB Official Exchange Rate

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

15

10

5

0

-5

15

10

5

0

-5

RMB/US$ (end of period) Percent of GDP

Swap center

established

Exchange rate

system changed

to a managed

floating

Official rate and

swap market rate

unified

Outbreak of Asian

financial crisis

Departure from

the de facto peg

Current-account

balance (Right)

Real

exchange

rate (Left) Nominal

exchange

rate (Left)

Sources: Min Zhao, External Liberalization and the Evolution of China’s Exchange System: an Empirical Approach

(2006); China National Bureau of Statistics; China State Administration of Foreign Exchange; Organisation of

Economic Co-operation and Development; Haver Analytics.

Note: RMB = renminbi (yuan); GDP = gross domestic product.
39

Figure 10. Growth of China's Portfolio Inflows and Outflows

(Percent Change from Previous Year)

-1,000

-500

0

500

1,000

1,500

1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Inflows

Outflows

Source: State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Figure 11. China's Portfolio Flows

Billions of US$

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Outflows

Source: State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Inflows
40

Hong Kong (China) 53.9 68.2 35.7 33.9 33.1 31.3 24.8 29.1

European Union 4.2 2.2 8.9 7.0 7.4 7.0 7.2 9.8

United States 13.1 4.6 9.5 10.3 7.9 6.5 4.2 9.4

Japan 14.4 6.5 9.3 7.9 9.5 9.0 9.0 6.6

Korea -- -- -- 5.2 8.4 10.3 7.1 5.6

Singapore -- -- -- 4.4 3.9 3.3 3.0 3.4

Taiwan 6.4 9.5 6.4 7.5 7.4 5.1 3.0 3.1

Other 8.0 9.0 30.3 23.8 22.7 27.4 41.6 33.0

Virgin Islands -- -- -- 11.6 10.8 11.1 12.5 16.2

Source: MOFCOM FDI Statistics.

Web address: http://www.fdi.gov.cn/pub/FDI_EN/Statistics/AnnualStatisticsData/default.jsp.

Table 1. Changing Sources of FDI Inflows to China

Percent of Total Realized Value for Year

1990 1992 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Percent of Total, Average

State Appropriation 24.0 12.7 3.9 4.8 4.8

Domestic Loan 13.4 21.4 21.7 18.6 18.1

Foreign Capital 4.3 4.9 8.9 7.4 4.2

Self-Raised and Other 58.3 61.0 65.5 69.2 72.9

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: CEIC.

Note: There is a break in the data in 1996.

Table 2. Fixed Asset Investment in China by Source of Funds

1981-1984 1985-1988 1989-1996 1997-2000 2001-2006
41

Percent of Total Capital Utilized

Agricultural 1.4 1.9 1.8 0.9

Construction 3.2 1.7 1.3 1.0

Electricity, Gas, and Water Supply 4.6 4.8 1.9 1.8

Manufacturing 62.1 65.9 71.0 57.7

Textile 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.0

Chemical Material and Product 3.2 4.7 4.4 3.8

Communication, Computer, and Other Electronic Equipment 5.9 15.1 11.6 11.8

Other Manufacturing 49.0 42.0 51.0 39.1

Mining 2.1 1.7 0.9 0.7

3.7 1.9 2.1 2.9

Real Estate 11.4 11.0 9.8 11.8

Banking and Insurance -- 0.1 0.4 9.7

Information Transmission, Computer Service, and Software -- -- 1.5 1.5

Scientific Research -- -- 0.5 0.7

Leasing and Commercial Service -- -- 4.7 6.1

Othera 11.6 10.9 4.2 5.2

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: CEIC.

a. Includes wholesale and retail trade, catering, water conservancy, residential and other services, social organization, education,

health care, and recreation.

Table 3. Distribution of China’s Foreign Direct Investment Inflows by Sector, Selected Years

2004 2006

Transport, Storage, and Postal Service

1997 2001
42

Percent of Total

Food 8.3 4.8 3.2 2.7

Crude Materials (Except Fuel) 3.4 1.6 1.0 0.8

Mineral Fuels 3.2 3.2 2.4 1.8

Chemical Products 5.2 5.0 4.4 4.6

Basic Manufacturesa 19.2 16.5 17.0 18.0

Machinery and Transport Equipment 18.1 35.7 45.2 47.1

Office and ADP Machines 2.2 8.8 14.7 13.9

Electrical Machinery 4.9 9.5 10.0 10.5

Telecom. and Sound Recording Equipment 5.6 8.9 11.5 12.8

Other Machinery and Transport Equipment 5.4 8.4 9.0 10.0

Miscellaneous Manufactures 41.3 32.7 26.4 24.6

Apparel and Clothing Accessories 19.6 13.8 10.4 9.8

Footwear 5.0 3.8 2.6 2.3

Travel Goods and Handbags 2.0 1.5 1.1 0.9

Other Miscellaneous Manufactures b 14.7 13.7 12.3 11.6

Otherc 1.4 0.6 0.4 0.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: CEIC.

Note: ADP = automated data processing.

a. Includes leather, rubber, wood, paper, yarn, fabric, iron, steel, nonmetallic mineral manufactures, and

nonferrous metals.

b. Includes furniture, photographic equipment, watches, prefabricated buildings, professional instruments,

and sanitary plumbing.

c. Includes beverages, tobacco, and animal and vegetable oils.

Table 4. Composition of China’s Exports, Selected Years

1994 2001 2006 2004
43

Percent of Total

Agricultural 2.9 5.3 0.9 1.0 2.5

Construction 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.2 0.6

Electricity, Gas, and Water Supply 0.8 1.4 0.1 0.7 0.7

Manufacturing 21.9 13.7 18.6 5.1 14.8

Mining 48.3 32.7 13.7 48.4 35.8

2.7 15.1 4.7 7.8 7.6

Real Estate -0.5 0.2 0.9 2.2 0.7

Information Transmission and Computer Service 0.3 0.6 0.1 0.3 0.3

Scientific Research 0.2 0.3 1.1 1.6 0.8

Leasing and Commercial Service 9.8 13.6 40.3 25.6 22.3

Othera 12.9 16.2 19.0 7.0 13.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: CEIC.

a. Includes wholesale and retail trade, catering, water conservancy, residential and other services, social organization, health care, and recreation.

Table 6. Distribution of China's Nonfinancial Outward Direct Investment, by Sector

Average,

2003-2006

Transport, Storage and Postal Service

2003 2004 2005 2006

Average Annual Growth Rate

China 3.9 8.1 8.8 8.9 173 1,593

India 0.3 3.5 3.6 5.1 207 591

U.S. 2.5 2.1 1.8 1.6 23,037 37,807

Sources: Haver Analytics; Federal Reserve Board; Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau

of the Census; China National Bureau of Statistics; Reserve Bank of India.

Note: The GDP data underlying column one come from the Federal Reserve Board, whereas the GDP data underlying the

other columns come from Haver Analytics. Therefore, the first column may not be consistent with the later columns.

Table 5. Real per Capita GDP

1979 Level

(2000 US$)

2006 Level

(2000 US$) 1971-79 1980-89 1990-99 2000-06
44

Percent of Total Nonfinancial Outward Direct Investment

Asia 52.7 54.6 35.7 43.5

Hong Kong 40.3 47.8 27.9 39.3

Japan 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.2

Korea 5.4 0.7 4.8 0.2

Singapore -0.1 0.9 0.2 0.7

Europe 5.1 2.9 3.2 3.4

Russia 1.1 1.4 1.7 2.6

North America 2.0 2.3 2.6 1.5

United States 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.1

Latin America 36.4 32.1 52.7 48.0

Cayman Islands 28.3 23.4 42.1 44.4

Africa 2.6 5.8 3.2 2.9

Other 1.2 2.4 2.5 0.7

Source: CEIC.

Table 7. Regions and Countries Receiving China’s Nonfinancial Outward

Direct Investment

2003 2004 2005 2006
Table 8. China's Balance of Payments (Bil. of US $)

(+: Capital Inflows; -:Capital outflows)

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Change in FX Reserves (+:increase) 35.9 6.2 8.7 10.7 47.3 75.5 117.0 206.4 207.0 247.0

Current Account Balance 37.0 31.5 21.1 20.5 17.4 35.4 45.9 68.7 160.8 249.9Financial Account Balance 21.0 -6.3 5.2 2.0 34.8 32.3 52.8 110.7 58.9 6.0

Net FDI Inflows 41.7 41.1 37.0 37.5 37.4 46.8 47.2 53.1 67.8 60.3Net Portfolio Inflows 6.9 -3.7 -11.2 -4.0 -19.4 -10.3 11.4 19.7 -4.9 -67.6Other Inflows -27.6 -43.7 -20.5 -31.5 16.9 -4.2 -5.9 37.9 -4.0 13.3

75.5

Errors and Omissions -22.1 -18.9 -17.6 -11.7 -4.9 7.8 18.4 27.0 -16.8 -12.9

Memo:Adjusted Financial Account Bal. -1.1 -25.2 -12.4 -9.8 30.0 40.1 71.2 137.8 42.1 -6.9

Adjusted Net Portfolio Inflows -15.2 -22.6 -28.9 -15.7 -24.3 -2.5 29.8 46.7 -21.7 -80.4(including errors & omissions)

Current account/GDP Ratio (%) 3.8 3.0 1.9 1.7 1.3 2.4 2.8 3.5 7.0 9.0Source: China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange.Note: (1). Change in Foreign Exchange (FX) Reserves = Current Account Balance + Financial Account Balance + Errors and Omissions.

(2). GDP = gross domestic product.