eng Science and Education Publishing International Journal of Econometrics and Financial Management 2374-2038 2023-09-13 11 1 29 34 10.12691/ijefm-11-1-4 IJEFM20231114 article Liu Xiuling 1 Zhu Ruixue oh-snow@dlnu.edu.cn 1 International Business College, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian, China With the reform and opening up, the utilization of foreign direct investment (FDI) in ethnic provinces and regions of China has started and continued to develop, but its development speed is slower than the national average. The economic penetration and capital penetration of FDI in ethnic provinces and regions are lower than the national level, indicating that FDI in ethnic provinces and regions has not been able to play its due guiding role in its economy and investment. The average performance index of FDI in ethnic provinces and regions is also lower than that of the country, indicating that the potential of FDI has not been fully realized. The construction of the "the Belt and Road" will profoundly change the location disadvantage of ethnic areas and greatly improve the investment environment of ethnic provinces and regions. Ethnic provinces and regions need to take a series of measures to attract high-quality FDI and thus to accelerate the development of the open economy. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ijefm/11/1/4/ijefm-11-1-4.pdf ethnic provinces and regions foreign direct investment (FDI) economic penetration capital penetration potential index