A report from the Straits Times debunked the perception that Chinese firms were facing growing hurdles in the US, citing data that China's investments in the US had nearly tripled this year.
The report said that China has nearly tripled its investments in North America for 2013. The report calls it a "surprise development" which discredits the view that Chinese firms were faced with numerous hurdles in the US. A new study also reveals that Chinese investors now perceive the US as an easier place to conduct business in, the report added.
According to the said study, Chinese investors poured USD 24.7 billion in merger and acquisition deals in the US and Canada for the first nine months of 2013. This was an increase from last year which posted only USD 8.6 billion. These deals represented 60% of the total M&A deals made by Chinese firms around the world. This enabled North America to zoom ahead of Europe as the top destination for Chinese Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) for 2013.
Total Chinese ODI around the world reached USD 73 billion, helped mainly by deals made with state-backed firms with the cash to spend. These include the USD 15.1 billion acquisition of China National Offshore Oil Corporation or CNOOC. The worldwide Chinese ODI total was a 20% increase compared to the first three quarters of last year, according to A Capital. The Beijing and Brussels-based private equity firm said a key investor was China Investment Corporation, the country's sovereign wealth fund.
With the rapid growth of China's ODI, Vice Premier Wang Yang forecasted that China could be spending USD 500 billion overseas in the next five years. He was speaking at a forum in Beijing supported by the government that promotes the expansion of Chinese firms abroad.
The report also cited other data that supports the growing investment of China in the US. One of these was from the Ministry of Commerce which said there was a 220% rise in Chinese ODI from January to October in the US. Rhodium, a US-based research company also said Chinese companies invested USD 12.2 billion in the US in the first three quarters this year.
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