Posted on 09/22/2004 10:35:07 PM PDT by Destro
Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 23 September 2004 0213 hrs
China overtakes United States as top destination for foreign investment
GENEVA : China overtook the United States as a top global destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2003 while the Asia-Pacific region attracted more investment than any other developing region, a UN report said.
China's strong manufacturing industry helped the country attract FDI last year worth 53.5 billion dollars, compared with 52.7 billion in 2002, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its annual report on investment flows.
Meanwhile, foreign investment in the United States, traditionally the largest recipient of such money, plunged by 53 percent last year to reach 30 billion dollars, the lowest level in 12 years, according to data from UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2004.
Flows to the Asia-Pacific region as a whole rebounded over the year to 107 billion dollars from 94 billion in 2002 driven by strong economic growth and a better investment environment, the agency said.
China was expected to continue to attract foreign companies, analysts said.
"According to our analysis, FDI in China has not peaked although their economic growth rates have fallen," UNCTAD economist James Zhan told journalists.
The outbreak of deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Disease (SARS) only had a marginal downward effect on investment activity as Asia emerged from the decline in foreign investment it had experienced since 2001, the report noted.
"Prospects for a further rise in foreign direct investment flows to Asia and the Pacific in 2004 are promising," UNCTAD's Deputy Secretary General, Carlos Fortin, said in a statement.
But the distribution of the new wealth was uneven across the region, with most of the money -- 72 billion dollars -- concentrated in north-east Asia.
Flows to south-east Asia rose 27 percent to 19 billion dollars, while the south merely received six billion dollars in FDI.
Resource-rich central Asia recorded 6.1 billion and 4.1 billion dollars flowed into the west.
The manufacturing sector remained the dominant factor that pulled investment into China, but a rise in investment in the services industry was noted elsewhere in line with the global trend, UNCTAD said.
Services, including finance, tourism, telecommunications and information technology, formed a growing proportion of foreign direct investment stock in the region -- up to 50 percent in 2002, the most recent figure available, from 43 percent in 1995, UNCTAD said.
UNCTAD said the growing tendency to shift some business activities overseas to places where labour costs are low but the workforce is skilled helped to raise the region's profile.
Asian companies were also growing in power and reach as investors in other regions, according to the Geneva-based agency.
China and India were joining Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan as sources of foreign direct investment, it said.
Asian firms, such as Hutchinson Whampoa of Hong Kong, Singapore's Singtel and Samsung of South Korea, again dominate the UNCTAD list of the top companies from the developing world.
- AFP
Slave trade in China is booming... Europeans must see a lot of money in the land of bondage... they always have.
I guess it's time to plant that Victory garden I've been planning.
Eye popping but not suprising. Of course no one talks about these things in Washington in public much these days it seems.
I see lots of dollars flow to China as well as European ones.
Ping
We are taking OVAH....
The question is, how much the "foreign investment" in China is American money?
Probably a whole lot?
This can not be true because the free traders told us just the opposite was happening.
They have so much money now they are going to do this:
Report: China considering US$12 billion investment in Russia
Premier Wen Jiabao will discuss possible Chinese plans to invest up to US$12 billion (euro 9.8 billion) in Russian energy industries during a visit to Moscow this week, a Hong Kong newspaper with close ties to Beijing said Tuesday.
The report came as energy-hungry China appealed to Moscow to see that oil giant Yukos meets commitments to Chinese customers, after the troubled Russian company suspended some exports.
During his three-day visit starting Thursday, Wen will discuss bilateral issues with Russian leaders, and Moscow's bid to enter the World Trade Organization, the Wen Wei Po newspaper said. It didn't give a source for the information.
"The two countries might also reach agreement that by 2020, China will invest US$12 billion in Russia's energy resources and infrastructure," the newspaper said, without giving more details.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/040921/ap/d8580dgg0.html
From what I understand China doesn't keep books. Nobody wants to mess with China when it comes to accountabilty.
Lawyers have badly damaged this nation.
Agreed, but how have they empowered China? I don't doubt they have, I just can't think of anything direct off the top of my head.
Lawyers? Blame everyone but the source of it all - free traders.
Well, somebody has to manufacture all our necessities at dirt cheap prices with slave labor. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.
/Sarcasm
It certainly is. Do you think it means maybe we ought to examine our climate for capital formation. Or should we continue to swim around in a burst bubble while Kerry deludes himself that we can inflate a new one by taxing the rich?
I don't like trade with no tarrifs; for a powerhouse its like running a half full bathtub with the drain open and expecting it to fill. It doesn't; eventually it becomes empty. America is slowly losing its edge while her competitors advance on us.
But lawyers make the cost of business way to high. That drives up costs and prices.
You know what else is interesting? If this money is leaving America for China then this activity actually lowers the trade deficit that the economic-know-nothings always clamor about. "How?", you ask. Because the net capital outflow of a single country is equal to its net exports.
So, why all the bitching? Isn't the trade deficit the worst thing imaginable? I could swear that that's what I read all the time from the same doom -n- gloom FReepers here. You guys really need to take a stand on which way you want it. You doin't get something for nothing!
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