According to one study, China has reduced its investments in Europe and North America by almost three quarters last year. The direct investment summed up only to 30 billion dollars (26 billion euros), after it had been $ 111 billion in 2017 (97 billion euros), according to a study published today by the law firm Baker & McKenzie with the Institute Rhodium Group ,
In the US alone, there had been a collapse of 83 percent, due to the trade conflict and political tensions between the world’s two largest economies. There was also a significant decline in Europe, but Germany, France and Spain were able to attract more Chinese investment against the trend.
Due to stricter regulatory requirements, more than 14 Chinese investments in North America with a total volume of four billion dollars (3.7 billion euros) were canceled in North America. In Europe, there were seven worth 1.5 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros). Even stricter investment controls in the People’s Republic contributed to the decline.
Exports with the strongest growth since 2011
In the past year, despite the trade dispute with the US, China did not increase its exports as strongly as it did since 2011. They grew by 9.9 percent compared to 2017, as the customs authorities announced today in Beijing. Imports increased much more strongly at 15.8 percent.
The trade surplus, which was criticized above all by US President Donald Trump, thus shrank to around $ 352 billion (€ 307 billion). This is the lowest level since 2013. Trump accuses China of unfair trading practices and theft of intellectual property. He is also bothered by the high trade deficit of his country with the People’s Republic: It added up according to Chinese information in 2018 to 323 billion dollars. Trump has therefore imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to pay higher tariffs on American goods.
In view of the tariff dispute and the slowdown in the global economy, China wants to set a less ambitious growth target in 2019. The leadership is expected to target only a rise in the gross domestic product of 6.0 to 6.5 percent, the news agency Reuters learned from political circles. For 2018, the government had set a target of „around 6.5 percent“.
