Abstract

At the end of the 1970s, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) promoted policies
to attract investments from the developed capitalist world, aiming for technological transfer
and offering a profitable environment in exchange. Although the TNC capital, know-how,
and technology have been key factors for Chinese development, the State has planned and 
regulated those investments, so they can be aligned with an autonomous project of development,
avoiding the classic centre-periphery dependency relationship. This paper analysis focuses
on the Five-Year Plans, and the regulation policy laws for inward investment. At the
end we analyse the FDI data, which allowed us to identify the main changes and distinct
phases of the development of FDI and the State policy.

JEL Classification: F63; N95; O19.