China second largest foreign investor in Hanoi

China is Hanoi’s second largest source of foreign direct investment, accounting for 18% of total overseas investment flows into the capital city, said a municipal official.

Nguyen Ngoc Tu, deputy director of Hanoi's Department of Planning and Investment, said at a Monday conference that the city has attracted an accumulated $11.3 billion in FDI from China since 1986, when Vietnam opened up its economy.

The outlay includes 693 valid newly-registered projects worth $415.5 million; 107 operational projects adding $135.7 million; and 822 deals with contributed capital and stake purchases worth $10.7 billion.

In the 10 months through October, registered FDI in Hanoi totaled $2.61 billion, including $1.5 billion worth of VPBank shares purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the second-largest bank in Japan by assets. Chinese investment in this period was $29.6 million, Tu said.

The conference focused on economic cooperation between four Vietnamese localities and China’s Yunnan province.

Tu said that in the time to come, the economic corridor connecting Yunnan’s Kunming and Vietnam’s Lao Cai, Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh will continue to serve as a bridge between China and Vietnam’s large economic hubs. It would also be the shortest way to the sea in the region and a gateway linking China with the rest of ASEAN.

Traffic connectivity through roads and railways will be enhanced along the corridor to Lach Huyen seaport in Hai Phong.

Developments of new ring roads connecting Hanoi with neighboring provinces, railway routes in Hanoi’s urban areas and its eastern wing along with new urban areas and industrial parks will help boost economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and Vietnamese localities, Tu noted.