Avenue Capital: Now is a great time to be investing in China

China's expanding economic largesse is creating new opportunities for businesses, said Mark Lasry, chairman of US-based investment firm Avenue Capital Group, at an online forum titled "Possibilities: US-China Relations in the New Era," Forbes reported on Sunday.

"Economically, for us, that's actually great," Lasry, who holds a fortune worth $1.8 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, said of the country's growing strength. "Their GDP growth was through the roof. Everything is growing out there."

"Because of the growth, I think we'll end up doing very well. So for what we're looking at, I think, now is a great time to be investing in China."

China's relative success in combating the COVID-19 pandemic has given its economy a boost. China's GDP was one of the few to expand for all of 2020, gaining 2.3 percent for the full year. It grew by 18.3 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter of 2021, one of the best-ever performances by an economy that now stands as the world's second-largest.

That rebound contrasts with other nations in Asia. "The country that's not shut down is China. So for us, we're actually putting more money in China because we're seeing more opportunities," said Lasry.

The company targets specialized lending in China. "I would say it's probably one of the few times in the last couple of years where now China is becoming a much bigger part of our portfolio," he said. "The reason for that is because of all the growth and all of the opportunities there."