China’s outbound investment reshaping the global economy

As economists obsess over plunging foreign direct investment into China, they risk missing a far more important trend: the giant waves of capital zooming in the other direction.

In 2023 alone, Chinese outward direct investment in the Asia-Pacific region surged 37% to nearly US$20 billion. That outflow speaks to how Chinese companies seeking growth abroad are altering financial dynamics from Asia to the West to Latin America.

And how China Inc’s investment ambitions are only just beginning to remake the global pecking order, despite Washington’s attempts to curb its influence.