Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Foreign direct investment (FDI) from China - statistics & facts
With the rapid development of China's globalization process, worldwide investment of Chinese enterprises has experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, reaching its peak with over 196 billion dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows in 2016. Although Chinese investments abroad remained at a lower level since 2016, China has firmly established itself as one of the largest direct investors in the world.
FDI development in China
Driven by China’s fast economic development, the country’s outward investment stock grew quickly from only around 28 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to around 3.6 trillion in 2025. A large part of this investment volume was used for mergers and acquisitions, which attracted the attention of the Chinese government and foreign countries alike and led to stronger market surveillance and lower investment outflows since 2017. Although China is one of the most restricted countries regarding outward FDI flows in comparison with developed nations, the government still encourages its companies to go global and has taken steps to facilitate outward investments in recent years.
Given China’s important role in global value chains and the low FDI intensity of its economy, there is a huge potential for increased overseas investment. However, as geopolitical tensions are growing and concerns about national security and strategic asset protection are rising, the future development of China’s FDI flows will be strongly influenced by domestic and international political factors.
BRI expansion and the redirection from Western countries shape the long-term outlook
In recent years, the China+1 strategy, establishing manufacturing subsidiaries in ASEAN nations such as Vietnam and Malaysia to reduce tariff exposure, has driven an upswing in greenfield investments, with the value of greenfield investment commitments reaching 131.87 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, more than double the 2021 figure of 43.84 billion U.S. dollars. The U.S. government’s 2025 imposition of reciprocal tariffs on several of these same ASEAN economies has nonetheless raised questions about the durability of the approach.
Asia absorbed 152.67 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese overseas investment flows in 2024, though interpreting this figure requires a caveat: Hong Kong FDI inflows from China alone totaled 116.12 billion U.S. dollars, with the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands absorbing further flows that are often ultimately reinvested back into China. Beyond this conduit effect, tighter Western investment screening has accelerated a durable reallocation: Belt and Road investment flows rose to approximately 50.99 billion U.S. dollars across all BRI participating nations in 2024, while Chinese FDI to the United States contracted to 6.63 billion U.S. dollars, less than 40 percent of the 2016 peak, highlighting the growing tensions between the two economic powehouses.
