China’s Outbound Foreign Investment Sees Near 30% Per Annum Growth for a Decade

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A new report indicates that China has seen average per annum growth in outbound foreign investment of almost 30% for a decade-long period.

The “China Outbound Foreign Direct Investment Strategic Research Report” (中国对外直接投资战略研究报告) released by the Academy of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (中国贸促会研究院) on 31 August says that China has seen average per annum growth in outbound foreign direct investment of 27.2% for the past ten years, transforming it into a major capital exporter.

In 2017 China’s outbound foreign direct investment flow was USD$124.63 billion, putting it in third place internationally, as well as bringing total outbound foreign direct investment reached $1.48202 trillion for eighth place internationally.

During the period from January – July 2018 China’s non-financial foreign direct investment saw year-on-year growth of 14.1% to reach $65.27 billion, as compared to a full year global projection of 10%.

The report points out that the scale of China’s outbound foreign investment already exceeds that of advanced economies during comparable periods of development.

In 2016 China’s per capita GDP was $8,123.18, yet its outbound foreign direct investment for the year was 9.28 times that of the United States when its GDP was $8,000.00, as well as 2.41 times that of the UK, 9.45 times that of Germany and 19.26 times that of Japan when they were at similar periods of development in their histories.

While Beijing decried “irrational foreign investment” in the real estate and entertainment sectors in 2017, according to the report China’s mix of foreign investment has become “more rational” since the start of the year.

During the period from January – July 2018 China’s outbound foreign investment mainly flowed towards the leasing and commercial services sector, the manufacturing sector, the mining sector, as well as the wholesale and retail sectors.

In sharp contrast there were no new investment projects in the real estate, fitness or entertainment sectors during the period.