Chinese outbound investment is set to reach as high as $2.5tn over the next decade despite rising protectionism, according to new research, suggesting that annual totals will regularly beat the record set in 2016 before Beijing’s broad crackdown on “irrational” dealmaking.
The report from global law firm Linklaters notes that in addition to capital controls imposed by Beijing, scrutiny of Chinese investments is rising, especially in the US and Europe. On Thursday the White House said it would impose restrictions on Chinese investments in sensitive industries, without providing more details.
“Last year, we described the spread of regulatory and governmental concerns into areas of ‘critical infrastructure’. We are now seeing additional concern in relation to investments into businesses with a significant data or cyber security aspect to their operations,” the report said.