China’s Outward Investment

After the steep downturn of 2008–2009, since 2013, the world economy has continued its slow recovery. However, this growth has been uneven. Among developed countries, the US economy grew quickly while growth in the Eurozone remained sluggish. Emerging economies have also encountered headwinds as the growth momentum in most of these countries was insufficient to fuel more rapid expansion. Over this time, global cross-border investment enjoyed a period of robust growth before declining in recent years. From 2012 to 2015, global FDI inflows rose from US$ 1.33 trillion to US$ 1.92 trillion according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). However, in 2016, FDI flows contracted to US$ 1.87 trillion and fell further to US1.43 trillion in 2017. Amidst a slow global economic recovery, the Chinese economy continued to grow strongly. Economic restructuring and industrial upgrading contributed to China’s endogenous growth momentum. This ongoing transformation also drove continuous growth of overseas direct investment (ODI) by Chinese enterprises, supported by the government’s ‘Go Global’ strategy which was accelerated following the CPC’s Eighteenth National Congress in 2012.