China’s 2011 outbound investment growth slows

BEIJING: China's outbound direct investment rose 8.5% to US$74.7bil
in 2011, slowing from the year before, government data showed, but
extending a decade-long expansion streak as domestic firms are
officially encouraged to venture abroad.
Annual growth in 2011 marked a sharp slowdown from an annual increase of 22% the previous year.
China
has been prodding local firms to invest in natural resources abroad and
to acquire foreign technology, which helps reduce international
payments surpluses and slows the build-up of foreign exchange reserves.
Chinese
outbound investment grew an annual average of 45% between 2002 and
2011, according to figures jointly released by the Ministry of
Commerce, State Administration of Foreign Exchange and National Bureau
of Statistics.
Among the total outward capital flows, investment
by non-financial companies reached US$68.6bil in 2011, rising 14% from
a year earlier, the commerce ministry said. That is up from the
preliminary US$60.1bil figure released in January.
In contrast,
investments by financial institutions dropped 29.7% to US$6.1bil during
the same period, as the festering European debt crisis exacerbated the
volatility in the global financial market, official data showed. -
Reuters