China will further relax market access, shorten the negative list and build high level opening-up platforms, especially in its pilot free trade zones, to put foreign direct investment growth and exports on a firmer footing, a senior official said on May 25.

Growth of nonfinancial sector foreign direct investment on the Chinese mainland surged 11.8 percent year-on-year in April, compared with a decline of 14.1 percent in March, showing that global companies' confidence has continued to grow in the country despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.

Total FDI inflows into China fell 6.1 percent on a yearly basis to 286.55 billion yuan ($40.34 billion) during the first four months of this year. The decline was 4.7 percentage points narrower than the level seen in the first quarter.