The present note summarises the main findings of the research conducted under the auspices of the OECD/MOFTEC Co-operation Programme on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) between the fall 1999 and the spring 2000 on Main Determinants and Impacts of FDI on China’s Economy. The OECD/MOFTEC Co-operation Programme on FDI was established in the spring of 1999. The present study was one of the most important activities conducted during this initial phase of joint work. It will provide the analytical underpinning to the investment policy dialogue which both parties have agreed to pursue over the coming year.

Because of its size, China’s “open door policy” launched twenty years ago constitutes a unique and vast laboratory for the study of major structural changes in China and the world economy. It also provides an opportunity to test the benefits and the shortcomings of the economic policies which have been followed by the Chinese authorities and identify the improvements that could be ...