China becomes top global destination for foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment in mainland China totaled US$127.6 billion in 2014, surpassing even investments in the United States to become the world’s top destination, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. China’s elevation is part of a longer-term trend in foreign investment away from developed and toward developing economies, which last year attracted 56% of all overseas investments by businesses. But China might not have displaced the US last year if not for Verizon’s purchase of US$130 billion worth of shares in a joint venture from the UK’s Vodafone that counted as a reduction in foreign investment in the US.