Growing outward FDI shows West's containment strategy is not working

China's outbound direct investment was $177.29 billion in 2023, up 8.7 percent year-on-year and accounting for 11.4 percent of the global total, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over the previous year. By the end of 2023, China's outward FDI stock had reached $2.96 trillion, ranking third in the world for seven consecutive years, the latest figures show.

China's FDI outflows in Asia and Africa grew rapidly in 2023, with FDI in the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increasing by 31.5 percent year-on-year to reach $40.71 billion, which accounts for 23 percent of total outbound FDI in 2023. By the end of 2023, Chinese investors had set up 48,000 enterprises in 189 countries and regions around the world, 17,000 of which were in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China's outward FDI continues to be varied. While nearly 80 percent of the investment flowed to leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, manufacturing, and finance, the investment in construction, and information transmission/software and information technology services showed growth rates of 97.2 percent and 34.9 percent, respectively.