Economy

China's ODI 'set to grow' despite setbacks

By Ding Qingfen and Bao Chang (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-23 07:12

"An efficient way to make this happen is to encourage Chinese companies to invest overseas and learn from their foreign counterparts," said Huo Jianguo, director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. "The US and EU will see rapid growth (of investment from China)."

In 2010, China's investments in the US surged by 297 percent, and in the EU by 81.4 percent, compared with an average growth of 36.3 percent for its overseas investments.

Trade impact

The recent earthquake that hit Japan will "hurt China's imports from the nation over a short period", but China-Japan trade will not suffer long-term consequences, Yao said.

"We believe Japan will soon recover from the disaster."

Japan is China's third largest trade partner, and China is the largest export market for Japan. In 2010, China-Japan trade hit $297.8 billion, accounting for 10 percent of China's foreign trade during the same period.

China imports integrated circuits, steel, automobiles and auto parts, while exporting garments, agricultural and electrical goods.

"The impact of China's exports to Japan is limited," Yao said.