China’s outward foreign investment

See Joe Battat’s presentation at the 2006 PSD Forum. A polished paper should be out soon. Some quick facts from his survey of Chinese firms:

• Africa and South & South East Asia are the destinations of choice
• Limits on foreign exchange and lengthy application time are the main impediments to overseas investment
• Market seeking and the acquisition of strategic assets are the main drivers of expansion
• 70% of firms found the market conditions worse in Africa than in China; this number rises to 85% for the Middle East and 90% for Eastern Europe.

Also see an earlier paper by Battat on South-South FDI, a paper by Stephen Gelb, or more presentations from the South-South session.