Win-win situation for China to invest abroad

HONG KONG - Successful Chinese investments abroad can create a "win-win situation not only for China but for those countries," Executive Director of SelectUSA Steve Olson said during an exclusive interview on Thursday.

"China and the United States are the two most important economies in the world," said Olson, adding that China has a very important role to play in overseas investment.

Established by the US President Barack Obama in 2011, SelectUSA is the first-ever federal-wide effort to facilitate business investment as an engine for job growth and economic development. The initiative is housed in the US House of Commerce Department and coordinates investment-related resources across US federal agencies.

Although the initiative is quite new, it's a long standing policy that the United States is open for foreign investment, Olson said,

"President Obama, by creating SelectUSA, has provided tangible signal that we are open to investment," he told Xinhua.

Olson believed now is a "fabulous time" for Chinese companies to invest in United States amid the economic downturn. Moreover, economic development organizations in the United States are incentivized to attract investment to create jobs. "There are opportunities to be had in every state of the United States," he said.

According to Olson, the United States has the largest fully developed consumer economy in the world. With 315 million consumers at home, it has access to another 420 million international consumers through free trade agreement.

"To establish a company as a global brand, it will be located and produced in the United States," he argued.

Olson said as the center for capital and investment flows across the world, Hong Kong can play a critical role in facilitating companies from the mainland China to invest overseas.

"There are highly developed financial institutions and service providers here that can be an important intermedia for the Chinese investors, large or small, going to the United States, " he noted.