Chinese companies laid out US$2.9 billion in overseas direct
investment last year, up 5.5 percent from the 2002 figure,
according to the Statistical Communique of China on Overseas Direct
Investment, jointly issued on Monday by the Ministry of Commerce and
the National Bureau of
Statistics.
By the end of 2003, the total amount of overseas direct
investment by these companies reached US$33.2 billion.
It is the first time that China has issued such a communique,
according to Jin Bosheng, a senior researcher at the Chinese
Academy of International Trade and International Cooperation, and
it suggests that the government intends to beef up supervision of
overseas investment.
However, China's overseas direct investment still lags far
behind developed countries, he noted. Figures from the communique
indicate that direct investment of Chinese companies accounted for
only 0.5 percent of the world's total.
State-owned firms took the lead, accounting for 43 percent of
total overseas investment. Nearly half of all investment was placed
in Asia.
Investment overseas has become a major way for Chinese
enterprises to participate in global economic competition since
China began to adopt a policy of opening more than 20 years ago,"
said Ministry of Commerce official Peng Nanfeng.
Wang Zhao, a senior researcher with the State Council's
Development Research Center, pointed out that global investment
could also help ease the pressure for the yuan to appreciate.
"Besides pressure from the current account surplus, yuan
appreciation pressure also comes from the large capital
inflows."
The government should encourage domestic capital to "go out," he
said.
Yang Zilin, president of the Export-Import Bank of China (China
Exim Bank), believes that the time is basically ripe for domestic
companies to go out. "After about two decades of development, the
technical level of domestic companies has improved
significantly."
Yang said his bank would not only provide more long-term credit
with lower interest rates for Chinese companies in the next few
years, but also help them explore more investment areas
globally.
"Export and import banks in many foreign countries have placed
increasing emphasis on supporting companies to invest in other
countries, rather than supporting exports of commodities," Yang
said.
China Exim Bank plans to expand loan services to Chinese
companies that engage in processing trade or contract projects in
foreign countries. "The bank would provide first priority credit
for export of equipment, technology and raw materials, which are
demanded by the overseas investment projects," said Yang.
The bank will also support Chinese companies engaged in project
contracting, resource exploration and manufacturing in countries
where the Chinese government provides preferential loans.
(China Daily September 7, 2004)