Things get busy at Ereenhot Port, the largest land port on the border between China and Mongolia. [Photo by Hu Fuguo for chinadaily.com.cn]

In 2022, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region utilized 3.45 billion yuan ($492.86 million) in foreign capital, a year-on-year increase of 58.6 percent, indicating six consecutive years of growth.

Information from the region's commerce department shows that in 2022, foreign capital was mainly invested in primary industries within the region. Investment in agricultural and animal husbandry supporting sectors accounted for 75 percent of the foreign capital utilized, which is 1.1 times the previous year's statistics.

Meanwhile, the use of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry came in at 580 million yuan, accounting for 16.9 percent of the region's total and representing an increase of 37.5 percent.

An official from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Commerce Department said that Inner Mongolia will continue to better serve foreign-funded enterprises and projects in 2023, as well as further improve its foreign business promotion.

Additionally, Inner Mongolia plans to advance the construction of the Ereenhot-Zamin-Uud Economic Cooperation Zone, and strive to have the China Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone project approved.