When China’s companies sought to conquer global markets more than a decade ago, the attempt did not end well.
In the early 2010s, a clutch of Chinese billionaires launched an unparalleled, debt-fuelled acquisition spree, buying up high-profile assets across Europe, the UK and the US: from English football clubs and Hollywood studios to French resorts and even the famed Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. After years of consistent double-digit growth in outbound investment, by 2016 China trailed only the US as the biggest global investor.
But this golden age did not last. A combination of rising US angst over China, and Beijing’s own concerns over the biggest ever outflow of Chinese money, sparked a stark change in sentiment.