Overseas investment set for 'golden era'

Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Center of International Economic Exchanges, said that "now is the best time for China's private companies to go abroad for overseas investment."

"Private companies can make the best of their advantages. They have flexible management systems and make decisions very swiftly. They can follow global business practices more easily," Wei said.

In 2012, China's overseas investment totaled $87.8 billion, up 17.6 percent year-on-year and leaving the country the world's third-largest investor for the first time, according to the Ministry of Commerce. In the same year, total global foreign direct investment dropped 17 percent from a year earlier.

"China's overseas investment totaled $89 billion in the January-October period, and I expect the full-year volume will stand between $90 billion and $100 billion,' he said.

"China's overseas investment will be equal to its FDI inflows in the next two years, at about $120 billion," Wei said.

Francisco Sanchez, former undersecretary of the United States Department of Commerce, said that the US is now the most favored investment destination after Hong Kong for companies from the Chinese mainland.

"More and more Chinese investors have become aware of the opportunities in the US market. The market size is huge, and the employees are well-educated. Energy costs are declining," Sanchez said.

He added that the US welcomes overseas investment, especially from China, as foreign capital "is very important for US economic development.

"The US has no review purposely targeting Chinese investment. About 98 percent of Chinese investment projects in the US were not reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The remaining 2 percent passed their reviews," he added.

The CFIUS, an inter-agency committee of the US government, reviews foreign investment proposals from all over the world, rather than just those from China, mostly based on any national security implications, according to Sanchez.

Special coverage