BEIJING - China remains attractive to foreign companies, as an overwhelming majority of them questioned in a survey have expressed a desire to continue to invest and operate in the country, a commerce official said on Thursday.

Some 99.1 percent of respondents in a recent survey, conducted by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), said their companies' operations in the world's second-largest economy will continue, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told a regular press briefing.

Despite the COVID-19 epidemic, China's business environment has further improved this year with the implementation of foreign investment law and the unveiling of a much shorter negative list, Gao said, adding that the country has also helped foreign-funded companies solve prominent problems such as shortages of anti-epidemic supplies and raw materials.

China will provide more quality services to foreign firms and create a more law-based, internationalized, and convenient business environment, Gao said.

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, fell by 1.3 percent year on year to 472.18 billion yuan (about 67 billion US dollars) in the first half of 2020, with the second quarter registering a 8.4 percent year-on-year growth.