New Research Reveals China’s Overseas Investment Priorities: Asia is Tops, Africa is “Basically a Rounding Error”

Source: China’s Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange

New research reveals fascinating patterns in Chinese overseas foreign direct investment in the nearly twenty-year period from 2003 to 2021. Not surprisingly, Asia has been the preferred destination, followed by Latin America, most of which has gone to Brazil, Chile, and other resource-rich countries in South America.

The comparatively small share of FDI that’s gone to Africa during that period did take some scholars by surprise. “It is noteworthy that for all the ink spilled, Africa is basically a rounding error on the graph,” observed University of Notre Dame China-Africa professor Joshua Eisenman.

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by Eric Olander

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