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Home Country Macroeconomic Determinants of Chinese OFDI

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Chinese International Investments

Abstract

Compared with foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) used to be quite small. According to UN statistics, China’s FDI inflow-outflow ratio was 6.4:1 in 2005 (Cheung & Qian, 2008). However, Chinese investment abroad has increased dramatically since 2007. In 2008, Chinese OFDI outflow reached US$52.1 billion, which equals China’s 2003 FDI inflow. In 2009, Chinese OFDI outflow was US$48 billion, more than double 2007’s outflow (US$22.5 billion) (UNCTAD, 2010). In 2010, it reached $57.9 billion. According to recent statistics from the Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China, US$255.4 billion has been designated for non-financial direct investment by Chinese investors to more than 15,000 enterprises in 174 countries and regions by the end of 2010.

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© 2012 William Wei, Ilan Alon, and Liqiang Ni

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Wei, W., Alon, I., Ni, L. (2012). Home Country Macroeconomic Determinants of Chinese OFDI. In: Alon, I., Fetscherin, M., Gugler, P. (eds) Chinese International Investments. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230361577_3

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