What did Deng Xiaoping promote in relation to foreign investment?

Deng Xiaoping is recognized for promoting unprecedented levels of foreign investment in China, especially during the late 1970s and 1980s as part of his wider economic reforms. His policies shifted the focus from a strictly planned economy to one that embraced market mechanisms, which included opening China to foreign capital and technology. This approach was crucial in the transition from an isolated, centrally-planned economic system to a more market-oriented one, allowing foreign businesses to establish operations in China, thereby catalyzing rapid economic growth.

Deng's reforms also included the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) aimed at attracting foreign investment with favorable conditions, such as tax incentives and less stringent regulations. These zones became instrumental in integrating China into the global economy and significantly ramped up the levels of foreign capital entering the country.

The other options suggest a negative or restrictive stance on foreign investment, which contradicts Deng's clear strategy to leverage foreign investment to modernize the Chinese economy and improve productivity through foreign technology and management practices.