China's FDI in US set for increase

Chinese investment in the US doubled to $14 billion in 2013, and investors made deals valued at more than $10 billion in the first half of 2014 alone, according to RHG.

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Investment in the US high-technology sector formed the core of China's FDI through the first quarter of 2014, with the announcement of more than $6 billion in such deals.

An April report from RHG forecast that China's outbound FDI could grow to $1 trillion to $2 trillion by 2020.

Although $10 billion in deals have been disclosed so far this year, Hanemann said it is important to note that completed investments for the first half of 2014 totaled just slightly more than $3.5 billion.

"Some (deals) may not actually materialize," he said. As a result, it is "unlikely" that Chinese FDI in the US will surpass last year's figure.

Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said he agreed with RHG's forecast that Chinese investment in the US will increase significantly over the next decade.

"If we look out conservatively over 10 years, investment will double in terms of the size of FDI stock in the US," Hufbauer said on Friday in an interview with China Daily. "Going the other way, if the liberalization agenda announced by President Xi Jinping during the Third Plenum takes hold, then US investment in China should also sharply increase."