OREANDA-NEWS. The actual inflow of Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Central China's Anhui province totaled USD 6.76 billion in the first half of 2014 (H1), up 20.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The growth was higher than the national average of 2.2 percent. Among the six provinces in Central China, Anhui saw the strongest rise in paid-in FDI.

The top three sources were Hong Kong, Taiwan and the US- with a capital injection of USD 4.16 billion, USD 540 million and USD 310 million, respectively - followed by Singapore, Japan, British Virgin Islands, Germany and Australia.

The province has stepped up efforts to woo Hong kong investors over the past few years. In 2013, for example, it launched a trade fair in Hong Kong. As a result, 15 strategic cooperative agreements and memorandums were signed and 71 programs worth USD 14.6 billion were under contract.

Likewise, the special administrative region has involved the province in its economic expansion. As of February 28, 2014, Anhui spent USD 150 million setting up 67 businesses in Hong Kong. 11 Anhui-based companies had launched their initial public offerings (IPOs) there by the end of January.

From April to June, the provincial government approved 56 foreign-funded companies to start operations. Their total investments rose 87 percent year-on-year to USD 1.69 billion, and registered capital amounted to USD 800 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 73 percent.

The province is becoming a magnet for foreign investment as the threshold for it has recently been lowered. The Ministry of Commerce announced earlier this month it annulled rules on the minimum registered capital for foreign-invested companies.