Opinion

Opening the door to ODI

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-09 13:39

The surge in China's foreign exchange reserves, to a record more than $3 trillion by the end of March, has made it urgent for Beijing to encourage domestic companies to invest more abroad.

Such a growing outflow of Chinese investment would give a much-needed boost to many recipient economies if they can overcome their unjustified bias and take it as a joint commitment to a common future.

As a major beneficiary of foreign direct investment (FDI), China believes that much of its growth can be unequivocally credited to the $1-trillion of foreign funds it has absorbed over the past three decades.

However, as it swiftly shifts from being a net absorber of FDI to a major provider of FDI, China is finding that its outbound direct investment (ODI) is not receiving a reciprocal welcome, even in some countries that had invested heavily in the booming Chinese market.

Related readings:  ODI set to overtake FDI 'within three years'  China's FDI to help US growth  Chinese FDI has 'great potential' to benefit US: Report  Growing ODI boosts regional cooperation

Granted, Chinese investors are not the first ones to have been given the cold shoulder when knocking on others' doors. The old protectionist excuses against investment from a rising economic power still seem to hold true even at a time when the worst global financial crisis in more than seven decades has left so many developed countries struggling for meager growth.

Even while global foreign investment shrank by 40 percent in 2009, China's ODI continued to increase.

China's ODI in the non-financial sector jumped by more than one-third to $59 billion last year and is expected to grow by 20 to 30 percent in the coming years. Some even predict that Chinese firms are likely to "place some $1 trillion to $2 trillion in direct investments around the world over the coming decade".

In stark contrast, the world's largest economy received only about $5 billion of Chinese investment in 2010 amid a series of US investigations.

A recent study by US academics on Chinese FDI in the United States has seemingly tried to give a sensible solution to the problem.

By warning that political fear-mongering about Chinese direct investment could cause the US to miss out on employment and investment opportunities, the study has laid bare the factor that has been getting in the way of the smooth flow of Chinese investment into the US.

The study not only highlights the job and growth benefits that China's ODI offers the US economy, but also the fact that Chinese enterprises are increasingly aware of the necessity to tap into the technological, managerial and other advantages of developed economies to survive global competition.

Given the double whammy the US faces with its soaring fiscal deficits and lack of investment for future growth, isn't it time to give Chinese investors fair treatment for the benefits of both economies as well as the global recovery?