China rejects U.S. report on worsening investment climate

China on Thursday rejected a recent U.S. report claiming that business environment in China is worsening, saying China will continue to create a favorable environment for foreign investment.

"China will continue its policy of using foreign capital and protecting foreign enterprises' rights," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei at a regular press briefing in response to a question about the report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

China has great potential for economic growth and is willing to share the benefits from its development with the rest of world, Hong said.

According to the recent report, a quarter of respondents said they had already or planned to remove some departments from China, mainly due to rising labor costs, network supervision and anti-monopoly investigations.

However, relative to other developing markets, China is still well-positioned. The country remains a top-three investment priority for 60 percent of the respondents, and the top priority for about 25 percent of members. A total of 60 percent of the enterprises still enjoy profits.

According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, China received 120 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment in 2014, more than any other country, and continued to be the leading destination among developing countries for 23 consecutive years.

The data showed that in the first 11 months of 2015, 23,648 enterprises with foreign investment were established, and the use of foreign investment was 7.9 percent more than the same period in 2014.

Foreign investment flow into China for 2015 is estimated at a record high of 126 billion U.S. dollars, according to the data. Endi