Chinese investment in U.S. grows the fastest   

中国对美直接投资增速全球第一

由美国商务部主办的“选择美国投资峰会”当地时间23日在华盛顿开幕，会议数据显示2009年至2013年中国对美直接投资增速居全球之首，美国高官同日表示看好中国对美投资的发展前景。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) – China's direct investment in the United States grew at the fastest pace in the world in the five years through 2013, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce at the SelectUSA Summit.

The summit, aimed to attract foreign direct investment, create jobs and stimulate economic growth, opened in Washington D.C. on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said the country welcomes foreign investment and will further improve its investment environment. China's direct investment in the United States hit $8.02 billion in 2013, and grew at an annual rate of 41.54 percent from 2009 to 2013, the fastest among global economies, Pritzker's department said.

U.S. President Barack Obama also vowed that his administration will roll out new measures to facilitate investment by multinationals, including a L-1B visa reform to make things easier and faster for companies to send foreign hi-tech professionals and senior executives to work in the country.

Over 150 Chinese entrepreneurs from the mainland and Hong Kong attended the summit. Wang Jianlin, chairman of China's Dalian Wanda Group and VIP guest of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, said he hoped to take this opportunity to promote further cooperation.

Wanda acquired U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion in 2012 and announced a $900 million investment plan to build a five-star hotel in Chicago last June.

Nevertheless, Chinese enterprises have faced many obstacles when investing in the U.S. in recent years.

For instance, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) often investigates mergers and acquisitions (M&As), citing national security concerns. The committee probed 97 M&As involving foreign companies in 2013, including 21 from the Chinese mainland, the most in the world. From 2011 to 2013 it investigated 54 M&As in which a Chinese mainland company was a major party in the transaction.

Vinai Thummalapally, executive director of SelectUSA, said those probes affected only a small proportion of all Chinese investments, and that no investigations are needed for routine deals. Thummalapally said he believed China will soon enter the top 10 or 15 foreign direct investment source list.

Sun Wansong, an official with China's Ministry of Commerce, told China News Service that enterprises are subject to review for investment in any foreign country. But he hoped the U.S. will give China a fairer playing field and create a better investment environment for Chinese enterprises.