Investment File Photo: VCG

China's outward investment value in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 saw a 12.3 percent year-on-year increase over previous levels, topping the global outward investment chart for the first time at $153.71 billion, according to the Report on Chinese Enterprises Globalization 2021-2022 published by the Center for China & Globalization (CCG).

China's outward investment value accounted 20.2 percent of global foreign investment value amid a downward trend in global investment due to COVID-19. In the first quarter of 2022, China's non-financial investment to countries along Belt & Road Initiative reached $5.26 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19 percent, the report stated. 

Since China joined the World Trade Organization about 20 years ago, the country's outward investment volume reached 57 times that of 2002 levels, at an annual increase of 25.2 percent, jumping from twenty-sixth to first place in the chart. 

In terms of attracting foreign investment, China's actual use of foreign investment in 2021 surpassed the milestone of 1 trillion yuan ($149.77 billion) for the first time, reaching 1.15 trillion yuan. In the first four months of 2022, China's actual used foreign investment stood at $74.47 billion, except for investments in the bank, stock and insurance sectors. 

With an improving investment environment, relevant laws and supportive policies, more foreign companies are engaging with the Chinese market. Foreign investment programs in China with over $100 million under management reached 602 in the first half of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 82.3 percent. 

The report suggested that foreign investment in China is a win-win outcome. Even though in 2018, the year that China became the target of a trade conflict with the US, the yield rate for the US companies in China was 11.2 percent, higher than the global average rate of 8.9 percent. 

Global Timees