Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province hits a record high in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. [Photo/VCG]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province hit a record high in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the city's commerce bureau.

Statistics show that the actual use of FDI in Xiamen amounted to 16.6 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) last year, up 23.8 percent year-on-year and accounting for 47.7 percent of the province's total amount.

In response to the complicated and volatile global situation, Xiamen has rolled out an array of favorable policies to stabilize foreign trade and investment.

The city has also organized online activities, such as online negotiations, meetings, and business matchmaking activities to offer platforms for overseas investors, in which a total of 29 foreign projects valued at 32.8 billion yuan were signed, helping overcome the limits brought by the global pandemic.

The service sector in Xiamen saw rapid development last year, with a total of 940 new enterprises settling in the city, attracting 10.82 billion yuan of FDI in 2020, rising 54.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for 65.2 percent of the city's total use of foreign investment.

In 2020, 90 projects, each with a contractual foreign capital of more than $10 million, were set up in the city, bringing in a total contractual foreign investment of $5.03 billion, up 3.5 percent year-on-year.

A number of non-mainland enterprises, such as Taiwan-based Genius Electronic Optical, as well as local companies like Xiamen Oamic Biotech Company injected more investment to promote the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.