China's new overseas assets in the first quarter surged by 28% year-on-year, indicating that under the pressure of the Sino-US trade war, Chinese enterprises are accelerating their expansion and layout overseas.
According to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, preliminary statistics released by China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange on the 9th show that in the first quarter, China's direct investment assets were about 48 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 28%.
Bloomberg analysis suggests that this data reflects that against the backdrop of the initial pressure of the US tariff war, increasing domestic competition in China, and rising risks of trade blockades, Chinese enterprises are accelerating their overseas expansion efforts to create jobs and points of economic growth abroad, attempting to ease external tensions.
At the same time, US President Trump is trying to pressure Southeast Asian and European countries through trade negotiations to restrict commercial exchanges with China. This may include restrictions on Chinese investment and other measures aimed at preventing China from transferring excess industrial capacity overseas.
Beijing has also increased its scrutiny of enterprises' "going out" strategies to address the pressure on the RMB exchange rate caused by intensified capital outflows. Bloomberg reported last month that China has further signaled a reduction of domestic enterprises' investments in the US.
Data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange show that first-quarter direct investment liabilities were 14.7 billion US dollars, an increase of over 32% compared to the same period last year.