How Much Have Chinese Investors Invested in Australia

Abstract

Chinese outward direct investment (ODI) in Australia has been debated for many years. Different data sources provide quite different indications of how much Chinese investors have actually invested in Australia. This study analyses each data source’s application and limitations, and provides some guidelines on how to interpret and use these data. The findings include: first, although the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Chinese official data measure direct Chinese ODI in Australia, the real value of Chinese capital flow into Australia is greater than these measures. Second, KPMG/University of Sydney and American Enterprise Institute/Heritage Fund data measure contracted value, which may be expected to be higher than the true value of capital flow given the uncertainty of the business environment. Third, as Foreign Investment Review Board data is the value of proposed investment, using this data to measure Chinese ODI in Australia is misleading.