China’s outbound investment is surging from already-record levels, government data shows, as analysts suggest that the country’s booming clean energy technology sector is increasingly looking to set up manufacturing operations abroad in the face of US and EU tariffs, reports the Financial Times. Investment from China into other countries rose 12.5% in renminbi terms to RMB 789.45 billion ($112.2 billion) in the first eight months of 2024 from the same period the year before, according to statistics released last week by the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
That jump followed an increase of 6% to RMB 1.04 trillion for the full year in 2023 on the year before, according to the commerce ministry.
Meanwhile analysts at Climate Energy Finance, a Sydney-based research group, have recorded a “tsunami” of investment in renewable energy and transport electrification projects, calculating Chinese companies have committed $109.2 billion in outbound FDI across 130 clean technology transactions since the start of 2023, according to corporate announcements and financial statements.