China will continue to attract foreign investment: Ministry

China will take effective policy measures to stabilize its strength in attracting foreign investment in 2020 and provide high-level services to existing foreign-invested companies across the country, a senior commerce official said on Friday.

The country will ensure domestic and foreign firms enjoy equal access to government assistance and rescue policies for companies in need to mitigate the impact caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, said Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce, during a video conference in Beijing.

Wang said the government will support the growth of various business platforms and continue to optimize its commercial environment for global businesses.

The vice-minister noted China has a huge market, abundant human resources, complete industries and well-developed infrastructure facilities. Its economic growth is backed by tremendous resilience and vitality.

"Foreign investors' investment confidence and market expectation in China will not change in the long term," he added.

Foreign direct investment from nonfinancial sectors in the Chinese mainland — which have been affected by the epidemic, the extended Spring Festival and factory standstills — dropped by 8.6 percent year-on-year to 134 billion yuan ($19.4 billion) in the first two months of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.