Corporate China Goes Global

Friedrich Wu

Published: December 2005

Recent high-profile international acquisitions and take-over bids by Chinese companies have attracted much media limelight and raised intense interest in China’s rising outward foreign direct investment (FDI). This paper delineates the macro trends of China’s outward FDI based on the most currently available data. It analyzes the size, geographical distribution and motivations of China’s outward investment. It identifies an emerging trend-shift in the globalization strategy of Chinese firms, moving from organic growth to strategic alliance and outright acquisition. The paper weighs the balance between obstacles to, and supporting factors for, the internationalization of Chinese enterprises. Finally, it spells out the mutually-beneficial effects of China’s outward FDI on home and host countries.