China Foreign Direct Investment (2024)

FAQs

China Foreign Direct Investment? ›

China's foreign direct investment totaled $33 billion on a net basis in 2023, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, down about 80% from 2022.

In recent years, China has been the second largest recipient of foreign direct investments (FDI) worldwide, attracting approximately 189 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.

Data are in current U.S. dollars. China foreign direct investment for 2022 was $180.17B, a 47.64% decline from 2021. China foreign direct investment for 2021 was $344.07B, a 35.95% increase from 2020. China foreign direct investment for 2020 was $253.10B, a 35.22% increase from 2019.

Export-friendly policies like regional and international free trade agreements encourage FDI in China, especially for enterprises with substantial market share outside the local Chinese market.

CHICAGO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The 2024 Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index report released recently has upgraded China's ranking from seventh to third, just after the United States and Canada.

China Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) registered a growth equal to 0.4 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Dec 2023, compared with a fall equal to 0.3 % in the previous quarter. China Foreign Direct Investment: % of Nominal GDP data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1998 to Dec 2023.

Hong Kong, the Virgin Islands, Japan, Singapore and the United States are among the major investors (data U.S. Trade Administration). Investments are mainly oriented towards manufacturing, real estate, leasing business and services, and computer services.

Foreign business investments in China fell to a three-decade low in 2023, a sign that global commerce is wary of doing business with the country amid Beijing's restrictive and volatile policy environment, as well as its mounting geopolitical tensions with Washington.

FDI has contributed to higher investment and productivity growth, and has created jobs and a dynamic export sector.

China's FDI in the United States (stock) was $28.7 billion in 2022, down 7.2 percent from 2021.

Where does China get its FDI from? ›

Asia remained the dominant destination for Chinese M&As. Notably, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia were among the top destinations, making up almost 80 percent of Asia's total investments.

The government's efforts to get overseas companies to return after Covid are falling short, and more will be needed if Beijing is to succeed in its aims. The continuing weakness highlights how foreign companies are pulling money out of the country due to geopolitical tensions and higher interest rates elsewhere.

Source: OECD International Direct Investment Statistics database. The top recipients of FDI inflows worldwide in Q3 2023 were the United States (USD 73 billion), and Ireland (USD 26 billion); Canada and Brazil both equally ranked as third largest FDI recipient (USD 15 billion).

Direct Investment Liabilities in China averaged 399.37 USD Hundred Million from 1998 until 2023, reaching an all time high of 1052.37 USD Hundred Million in the fourth quarter of 2013 and a record low of -117.53 USD Hundred Million in the third quarter of 2023.

U.S. annual FDI to China 2000-2022. This statistic shows the direct investment position of the United States in China from 2000 to 2022, on a historical-cost basis. In 2022, the U.S. investments made in China were valued at 126.1 billion U.S. dollars.

Developed economies dominate the largest FDI sources

China has been the fifth-largest source country for greenfield FDI announcements. Companies headquartered in Asia's largest economy have made investment pledges worth $843bn worldwide since 2003.

“Despite the decline this year, it is still at the third highest level in the past 10 years,” the ministry said. In 2023, foreign investment in the world's second largest economy dropped 8.0% from the previous year in yuan terms.