Wednesday, 19 June 2013

China’s investment overseas in January and February rose by 147 per cent

China’s investment overseas rose by 147%

19/03/2013 - 10:45am
China’s investment overseas, excluding investment in the financial sector, stood at $18.39 billion in January and February, according to official data released today. Compared with January and February 2012, a 147 per cent increase was recorded.
On the other hand, incoming FDI, which also excludes financial sectors, stood at $17.48 billion indicating a 1.35 per cent fall, compared with the same months in 2012.
In January, Bloomberg reported that China is gradually losing its advantages as a destination for workshops and plants because the labour costs and the land prices are rising. Today the spokesman from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MoC), Shen Danyang told a press conference that FDI in the Chinese agricultural and manufacturing sector dropped by 43.22 per cent and 20.64 per cent, respectively in February. However, in February, Foreign Direct investment in China expanded by 6.32 per cent year on year, increasing for the first time since June 2012. The main reason behind the increase was the increase of investments in the Chinese service sector.
The fact the China’s investment overseas was higher than the incoming FDI indicates that the Chinese government is trying to change the characteristics of the national economy. Ren Xianfang, a Beijing-based analyst with research firm HIS Global Insight told AFP, “It should be a trend in the long run -- it is highly likely that overseas direct investment will exceed foreign direct investment in the next few years…It is a national strategy to transfer China to a big investor from a big exporter.”
The biggest rise in China’s investment overseas, in a major market over January and February was in Australia, where it surged 282 percent, according to the MoC. Chinese investments in the EU internal market also rose by 81.9 per cent, compared with January and February 2012.

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