WASHINGTON - The trend of China's growing investment in foreign countries is expected to continue, said a US Congressional research panel in a report released Wednesday.
"Chinas investments abroad are growing despite an overall decline globally in foreign direct investment (FDI) following the 2008 financial crisis," said the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) in its report -- Going out: An overview of China's outward foreign direct investment (ODI).
The report noted that growth in China's ODI flows has become very significant in recent years, going from less than $100 million in flows in the 1980s to $56.53 billion in 2009, making China the fifth largest originator of ODI.
Despite the impressive growth trends, however, Chinese ODI remains relatively small: China, including Hong Kong and Macao, accounts for just 6 percent of global ODI stock currently, said the USCC, which was created by the Congress in 2000 to focus on US-china bilateral trade and economic relationship.