Initial success

By the end of 2010, Chinese companies had invested $250 million in Malaysia. Last year, China Huadian Engineering formed a joint venture with Malaysian power generation company Janakuasa to build a $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant in Vietnam. China's ZTE Corp, another telecom giant, is building infrastructure in the country while Aluminum Corp of China is involved in a $1 billion smelter in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak State.

In 2008, Chinese automaker Chery set up its eighth overseas factory in Malaysia. At its inauguration, Chery President Yin Tongyao noted that Malaysia is the largest passenger car market in ASEAN and also an important link to other ASEAN countries.

"We are planning to speed up building more overseas factories in the coming two years," Yin said.

Outside Malaysia, Chery has a factory in Indonesia and in May, announced plans to set up another with a local partner in Vietnam, where Great Wall Motors and Chongqing Lifan already have assembly plants.

Chinese companies are also investing widely in Singapore. As one of the largest financial centers in the world, Singapore has attracted more than $5 billion in investment from China with listings from more than 150 Chinese companies.

"Singapore is an ideal gateway for companies keen to develop clean energy solutions tailored for Asia," said Tan Jiansheng, senior vice-president of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co Ltd, when construction of its $33.6 million biomass-solar power plant began there in May.

"The facility will aim to meet the energy needs of Singapore as part of our ongoing effort to provide clean energy," Tan said.

In Myanmar, China is responsible for about 35 percent of all investment, about $14 billion to date. This includes a 771-kilometer pipeline for oil and gas from Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar to China's Yunnan province, scheduled for completion by 2013. All three Chinese oil giants, China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp, have operations in the country.  

The recent opening-up of Myanmar is attracting a wide range of investment - from multinationals to more local companies trying to expand their operations. In May, a trade delegation from Liuzhou, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, visited Yangon. Two Chinese companies, construction equipment maker Liugong Group and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motors, already have operations in Myanmar.

"We hope businesses in Liuzhou will continue to expand their markets in ASEAN countries, build up the city's brands and revitalize the nation's industry," Jin Honggen, an economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Yangon, told China Daily.

Chinese companies are building infrastructure in Cambodia's Stung Treng Province. Chinese hydropower, engineering and construction company Sinohydro Corp has completed a 103-megawatt hydropower project in Kampot Province at a cost of $200 million.

In Vietnam, around 2,000 Chinese companies have invested more than $3 billion, according to that country's foreign ministry. Aluminum Corporation of China has invested in Vietnam's bauxite mines while another company, Tung Fang, spent $60 million on a shoe factory. In 2007, Tien Giang Investment and Management Company of China launched a $100 million project to develop industrial zones.

In Laos, China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd is involved in a joint venture to launch Vientaine New World, a major real estate project in the capital.