China’s Outbound Investment Benefi ts the World.doc

China’s Outbound Investment Benefi ts the World THE steady growth of China’s outbound investment since the turn of the new millennium has generated mixed responses to Chinese capital. A main point of media focus， it has been both welcomed and called into question. To put Chinas outbound investment in perspective， China Today held an exclusive interview with He Zhenwei， executive deputy secretary-general of China Overseas Development Association. He holds that the “going global” strategy operates in the context of Chinas main economic policy during its 35 years of reform and opening-up of absorbing foreign investment. In his view， that Chinas empowered enterprises now invest abroad and so hone their international competitiveness is an inevitable feature of the country’s drive to join the globalization trend. He moreover believes that， having greatly benefited from foreign investment， it is now time for China to venture abroad and bring benefits to humankind in general as well as improve the wellbeing of its own people. Misconceptions Reports in certain foreign media contend that China’s outbound investment gives preference to resources-related projects， the countrys main aim being to exploit the resources of others. He Zhenwei holds that such sensationalized media hype， as sparked off by large enterprises like China Petrochemical Corporation （Sinopec Group） and China National Offshore Oil Corporations acquisition of resources-related projects， misleads the public into believing that the sole aim of Chinas big state-owned enterprises is to lay claim to overseas resources. China’s outbound investment took off relatively late， standing at US $2.7 billion in 2002， rising to US $2.85 billion in 2003， and climbing to US $26.5 bil- lion in 2007. It was not until 2008 that outbound investment exceeded US $30 billion， having skyrocketed that year to a volume of more than US $55.9 million. The steep increase in 2008 undoubtedly related to the world financial