China FDI Into U.S. Plunges To More Than Decade Low, Rhodium Says

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese businesses slashed investment into the US to the lowest since the global financial crisis, Rhodium Group estimated, a further sign of decoupling between the world's two largest economies. 

The value of completed Chinese foreign direct investment transactions in the US was $2.49 billion last year, less than half the amount in 2021 and the smallest since 2009, according to data provided by the consulting firm. 

“In the past seven years, China has gone from one of the top five US investors to a second-tier player surpassed by countries such as Qatar, Spain, and Norway,” Rhodium researchers including Thilo Hanemann wrote in a report.

Escalating tensions between the US and China have seen both countries take steps to restrict trade and investment in each others' economies, especially in the advanced technology sector, which is deemed sensitive because of national security considerations. China's Covid Zero policy, which was only lifted at the end of last year, also kept Chinese investors at home, curbing offshore expansion.

Read More: China Is Better at Trade Decoupling Than the US

Rhodium cited US official data to show the size of assets held by Chinese companies in the US has stagnated in recent years — to $282 billion as of 2021, roughly the same level as in 2017.

Employment by Chinese firms in the US dropped to just 140,000 in 2021, a decline of more than 60% from 2017 levels, according to the report. 

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