Foreign investment in China’s high-tech industries up 35.1pc to 200.26bn yuan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign investment in China’s high-tech industries is rising fast. It reflects a shift in global investors’ priorities towards research, advanced manufacturing and innovation-based business. Multinational companies are looking for investment opportunities in technology-driven sectors.

Official figures

According to the latest data from China’s Ministry of Commerce, foreign investment used in high-tech industries rose 35.1 per cent year on year to 200.26 billion yuan between January and August 2026.

In contrast, total foreign direct investment over the same period fell 5.3 per cent to 479.95 billion yuan. The share of high-tech industries in total foreign investment rose to 41.7 per cent, which is 12.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

The change was particularly marked in research and development. Foreign investment in research, development and design services rose 74 per cent. Investment in services that turn scientific and technological achievements into commercial use rose 64.2 per cent. Foreign direct investment in the manufacture of electronic and communication equipment also grew 41.9 per cent.

Earlier this year, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said research and development centres set up with foreign investment were fast becoming an important part of China’s innovation system. Multinational companies are turning some of their operations from production bases alone into innovation hubs that serve the needs of wider markets.

In 2025, about 14,000 new foreign-invested businesses were set up in China in scientific research and technical services, 27.2 per cent more than the year before.

Opportunities for Pakistan: experts

Asad Rahman, a policy analyst at S&P Global, told Wealth Pakistan that China’s innovation-led growth held important opportunities for Pakistan. Pakistan needs to shift its industrial cooperation strategy towards technology transfer, research partnerships and higher value-added manufacturing.

He said Pakistan must understand the difference between attracting Chinese capital and acquiring Chinese technology. In his view, the next goal should not simply be to set up more Chinese-owned factories. It should be to bring investment that builds local supplier networks, transfers production capability, trains engineers and technical workers, and gradually makes Pakistani companies part of higher value-added regional supply chains.

He said an institutional platform already existed to expand this kind of cooperation under the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, especially at a time when the economic agenda of both countries was giving greater attention to industrial development, innovation and direct partnerships between businesses.

According to Asad Rahman, Pakistan should identify sectors where Chinese capabilities match its existing industrial base and export potential. Electric vehicles and their parts, batteries and energy storage systems, electronics, solar and renewable energy equipment, agricultural technology, pharmaceuticals and selected engineering industries could offer workable opportunities.

However, he warned that to attract technology-based investment, Pakistan must remove long-standing barriers to investment, strengthen industrial competitiveness and improve the business environment.

Muhammad Kamran, a scientific officer at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), told Wealth Pakistan that the rapid expansion of China’s high-tech industries was strengthening its position in global technological development and creating new opportunities for international cooperation. In his words, China’s progress in advanced manufacturing, environment-friendly technology and innovation-based industries holds significant potential for bilateral industrial and technological partnerships.

Kamran said how far Pakistan could benefit from these developments would depend largely on strengthening domestic industrial capacity and preparing local businesses to take part in more advanced industrial activity.

He pointed out that the number of information technology professionals in Pakistan was growing and that there was also a wide network of universities and research institutions. However, these resources had not yet been effectively linked with industrial development. He said close cooperation between universities, research institutions and manufacturing companies would be necessary to build the technical skills modern industries need.

Kamran stressed that Pakistan should create conditions that could persuade Chinese and other international industrial firms to make long-term productive investments. He said better regulation, a reliable electricity supply, efficient transport networks and strong protection of investors’ rights were essential to attract companies working in technology-based industries.

According to the experts, the opportunity for Pakistan is to use existing economic cooperation mechanisms, including CPEC-II, to promote technology-based industrial partnerships, while also improving the domestic conditions they require. Kamran said that to turn opportunities into sustainable industrial growth, Pakistan must link its scientific and technical resources more effectively with industrial production and create a stable environment for investment.