US now mainland's third-largest ODI nation with $65b investment

The United States has become Chinese mainland's third-largest outbound direct investment (ODI) destination, after Hong Kong and Australia, said Zhang Xiangchen, assistant minister of the Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese enterprises have set up over 3,000 companies in the United States by the end of last year, with a total investment of $65.22 billion, providing nearly 80,000 jobs through direct investment, Zhang said at a news conference.

China's investment in the US has seen a rapid growth since 2009. Last year, China's ODI in the US soared to a record $7.596 billion. However, as China's outbound investment start late, the investment in the US only accounted for one percent of US' total foreign direct investment by the end of last year, Zhang added.

China's ODI in the US covers 18 industries, among which the investment in finance, manufacturing, mining and real estate totaled $47.97 billion, accounting for 80 percent of China's ODI in the US. The number of enterprises engaged in manufacturing, wholesale and retails represented 62 percent of total companies established in the US.

In 2014, China completed 93 merger and acquisition projects, with a total investment of 7.6 billion, said Zhang. China's Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's leading PC maker, last year closed its $3.12 billion acquisition of the Motorola handset unit from Google.

In the first eight months of this year, China's ODI in the US grew 35.9 percent from a year earlier to $4.43 billion, according to the 2014 Statistical Bulletin of China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment released on Thursday.

When asked about the effect of US Fed's rate rise, Zhang said it's limited, especially on China's ODI in the US.

"When Chinese enterprises make a decision to invest in the US, they always consider lots of factors, including the host country's macroeconomic policy and interest rate policy, but more importantly, they will seek their development opportunity from the perspective of global industry layout," said Zhang.

Zhang added that Chinese enterprises still remain optimistic about investment in the US.