Investment flows hit as US, China ties sour

Pandemic also to blame as companies retreat from cross-border ambitions

Two-way capital flows between the United States and China declined to a nine-year low in the first half of 2020 even though the level of direct Chinese investment in the US rose because of tech giant Tencent, a recent report said.

Escalating political tensions and the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic affected the investors.

Combined direct and venture capital investment between the two countries totaled $10.9 billion in the first half of this year, the lowest level since the second half of 2011, according to the report by the National Committee on United States-China Relations, or NCUSCR, and Rhodium Group, an independent research firm in New York.