China's outbound investment totals 183.97 bln U.S. dollars in 2008

Chinese overseas direct investment (ODI) added up to 183.97 billion U.S. dollars by the end of last year, said a report jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Tuesday.

The ODI came from more than 8,500 domestic investors and their overseas corporate assets topped 1 trillion U.S. dollars.

Chinese net ODI in 2008 was 55.91 billion U.S. dollars, up 111 percent from the previous year. Non-financial ODI was 41.86 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, up 68.5 percent year on year and financial ODI 14.05 billion U.S. dollars, up 741 percent year on year.

Chinese overseas enterprises employed about 1.03 million people, including 455,000 overseas employees.

Among Chinese outbound investors, 50.2 percent were limited companies, 16.1 percent were state-owned enterprises -- down 3.6 percentage points from the previous year, and 9.4 percent were private companies.

Chinese investors had set up about 12,000 enterprises overseas in 174 countries or regions. About 71 percent of the enterprises were in Asia and Europe.

By Xinhua 2009-09-09

China to encourage overseas investment with easier procedures

Outbound investment of Chinese enterprises may be expanded as China's foreign exchange regulator said on Monday that it plans to simplify examination and approval procedures for domestic companies' investment abroad.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) posted Monday on its website a draft regulation on foreign exchange management involving domestic enterprises investing abroad, to solicit public opinions.
According to the draft, domestic companies will be allowed to register the source of their foreign exchange financing after their investment overseas instead of obtaining approval beforehand.
The draft regulation also allows domestic enterprises to seek financing from more sources, including domestic foreign exchange loans, purchasing foreign exchange with yuan, the foreign currency funds enterprises possess, and their profits gained abroad.
The SAFE will also improve its supervision over overseas investment by carrying out annual inspection on investment projects together with the Ministry of Commerce, said the draft.
The draft regulation is aimed at facilitating and encouraging Chinese companies to invest abroad, and standardizing management of foreign exchange involved in such investment, said SAFE in an announcement which came along with the draft.
The SAFE is asking for opinions on the draft before June 19.
China's outbound direct investment reached $55.6 billion in 2008, up 194 percent from a year earlier.

By Xinhua 2009-05-19