Abstract: Taking the actual use of foreign direct investment amount as the main indicator, based on provincial spatial units, this paper applies the analyzing method with geographic concentration index, Theil index and Markov chains combining tradition and space to explore and analyze the dynamic time-space evolution process, pattern and characteristics of foreign direct investment regional distribution in China’s 30 provinces from 1985 to 2013 from the perspective of time, space and geospatial spatiality. The results show that China’s foreign direct investment regional distribution presents a trend of transferring from highly concentration to gradual diffusion and presents two convergence clubs with stronger stability at higher level and lower level. The spatial transfer of regional distribution type of China’s foreign direct investment is closely related to the differences of regional foreign direct investment levels, the smaller the gap between the levels of regional foreign direct investment, the greater the probability of transferring, and vice versa. The neighboring foreign direct investment environment will significantly affect the evolution of regional distribution types of foreign direct investment, the geographic proximity effect is obvious at the low level and the low-medium level areas, while at the medium-high level and the high level regions it is weakened by and by.

Key words: foreign direct investment; the space Markov chain; regional distribution; spatiotemporal pattern