China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced 16 overseas investment projects, as two of its largest telecommunications companies – Huawei and ZTE – are blocked by U.S. lawmakers as national security threat.
According to Xinhua, the sheer number of the announced projects hit a new high this year, including seven energy related projects as well as others spanning the areas of finance, communications, and infrastructure. A Ministry of Commerce official said that the government is willing to support enterprises’ overseas direct investment to divert the excess capacity and alleviate the Europe and the U.S.’s anti-dumping pressure.
The official statistics show that China’s net overseas direct investment in 2011 was $74.65 billion, a year-on-year growth of 8.5%, ranking No. 6 around the world. As of the end of 2011, a total of 13,500 investors established 18,000 enterprises in 177 countries (regions). It’s estimated that the investment will exceed $500 billion during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period (2012 – 2017).
Source: Xinhua, October 11, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-10/11/c_113343280.htm