China will become the biggest cross-border investor by the end of this decade, with global offshore assets tripling from $6.4tn at present to nearly $20tn by 2020, say researchers.
While much of the total will be in the form of foreign exchange reserves and portfolio investment, a growing share will come from direct Chinese investment in western-developed countries, according to a joint report by the economic research company Rhodium Group and the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies.
Based on the experiences of other countries, China’s global stock of outbound foreign direct investment, which includes investing in corporate mergers, acquisitions and start-ups, will increase from $744bn to as much as $2tn by 2020.