Financial times china is doing great :-*18 Nov 2020 10:16
Foreign investors pile back into booming China
Beijing says country is a ‘safe harbour’ after its rapid recovery from the pandemic
Investors are attracted to China’s logistics sector, which taps into the country’s rapid urbanisation © Bloomberg
November 18, 2020 3:04 am by Thomas Hale in Hong Kong
Ivanhoé Cambridge, a group that invests in international property on behalf of the Quebec state pension system, had already put $2bn into China’s logistics sector over the past few years. In June, as coronavirus was raging across the world, it decided to add another $400m to the total.
“We’ve certainly been trying to increase our exposure to logistics in China as quickly and as responsibly as we can,” said George Agethen, senior vice-president, Asia Pacific, at the Canadian company, who points to a “difficult environment” in which to make an investment decision.
“The interest to invest in China and China logistics is?.?.?.?everywhere,” he added. “There’s not a single investor I know who doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”
Foreign direct investment into China plummeted at the start of the year when coronavirus emerged within its borders. But its rapid recovery from the pandemic, as well as the chaos the virus has wrought elsewhere, is now encouraging a flood of money into the country.
When you look at the urbanisation?.?.?.?the consumption spending that has evolved in China — foreign investors have consistently tried to find a way to invest in that mega theme
George Agethen, Ivanhoé Cambridge
That shift could support China’s longer-term plans to expand domestic consumption and gradually liberalise foreign involvement in its industries even after it has cracked down on some of its biggest conglomerates and the outward capital flows they fuelled over the past decade.
Official data shows that foreign direct investment in China rose in October for the seventh straight month, jumping 18 per cent year on year to Rmb81.9bn ($11.8bn).
Last month Zong Changqing, an official at the Chinese commerce ministry, said investors saw the country as a “safe harbour”.
Rising FDI echoes a wider rush of funding into China’s financial markets on the back of its recovery, which has helped push the renminbi to its highest level in years. The economy is expected to grow 2 per cent this year, compared with declines elsewhere.
“What it’s showing is China is an attractive investment location in the same way it’s attractive for portfolio flows,” said Alicia Garcia-Herrerro, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis. “Overall its relative growth is better and its return is higher.”
Natixis said that if mergers and acquisitions between Hong Kong and China were excluded, activity had increased by the most in sectors such as real estate, ICT, ecommerce and consumer industries. Such sectors often rely on the Chinese market as an end in itself, tying into the country’s next five-year plan to focus the economy on domestic production that seeks to
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