Abstract：Theoretical and empirical research on the location choice of FDI is an important topic in the field of cross-border investment. The geographical distribution of foreign direct investment in China shows great spatial diversity. Most of the existing studies explain this phenomenon in terms of local market demand, labor costs, infrastructure, human capital, taxation, institutions, and other production factors. Cities are the main spatial structural units of economic geography research. Urban livability has an important impact on urban economic development, population migration, and enterprise location. The longitude and latitude span between different cities in China is large, the climatic conditions are different, and the degree of economic development is large, but the influence of urban livability factors on the location choice of foreign-funded enterprises has not been paid enough attention. An in-depth discussion of the influence of urban livability factors on the geographical distribution of foreign investment can help understand the distribution of foreign investment in China and then promote economic development according to local conditions. This paper focuses on the influence of urban livability on the location choice of foreign-funded enterprises in China. It uses the site selection data of new foreign-invested enterprises from 2003 to 2013, constructs a conditional logistic model for the location choice of foreign-funded enterprises between cities, and analyzes the role of urban livability in the location choice of new foreign-funded enterprises. The study finds that natural amenity and social amenity have a positive impact on the choice of new foreign-funded enterprises. This impact is even more pronounced in the social livability associated with urban public services. Moreover, amenity has a greater positive effect on large-scale enterprises, labor-intensive enterprises, and high-tech enterprises. In terms of the robustness of empirical results, this article explores three perspectives. Firstly, considering that the location choice of foreign enterprises has obvious agglomeration effects, in order to avoid the biased distribution of samples from weakening the credibility of the empirical results, the top five cities by the number of enterprises are removed. Secondly, aiming at the bias that may result from empirical model selection, Poisson regression and negative binomial regression are used to test the robustness. Finally, in order to avoid the problem of amenity measurement error, the robustness test is carried out using utility valuation estimation of urban livability. The research shows that building a good urban livable environment is the embodiment of the “people-oriented” development concept of urban administrators in the new era, and it is also an important way to promote urban investment attraction. Therefore, urban investment attraction should not only consider the convenience of company operations from the aspects of taxation and market environment, but also consider the public service needs of enterprises and talents from the perspective of urban livability, so as to create a greater attraction. At the same time, we should pay full attention to the bottlenecks and limits to development that come from local livability conditions, and cater for our policies to the needs of the area.
