A Win-Win Choice
By staff reporter HOU RUILI【期刊名称】今日中国：英文版【年(卷),期】2015(000)007【总页数】3
【关键词】欧洲国家;外国企业;中国企业;债务;金融;投资;资产
A CCORDING to a report in theFinancial Times, European countries and enterprises that are teetering on the edge of a debt crisis are looking to China for investment.
While the European debt crisis has eroded the value of the euro, falling asset prices have attracted the interest of foreign companies, including Chinese enterprises. Europe is in urgent need of foreign investment to remedy the economic downturn, and China is willing to lend a hand.
Mushrooming Investments
In 2005, Chinese enterprises’ investment in Europe totaled US $190 million. Fast-forward to 2014 and this fgure rose to US $9.8 billion, a 50-fold increase within a decade. In the past four years, China has directly invested US $10 billion in Europe annually.According to a report released by the multinational law frm Baker & McKenzie last February, China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe set a record US $18 billion in 2014, almost double that of 2013. In 2014, the U.K. was China’s first FDI destination, and reached US $5.1 billion. Italy was in second place, with the latest investment reaching US $3.5 billion. Since 2000, the U.K. has retained the top spot of China’s FDI in Europe, amounting to about US $16 billion in total. The amount in Germany, France, Portugal, and Italy are respectively US $8.4 billion, US $8 billion, US $6.7 billion, and US $5.6 billion. Last year, Chinese investors showed particular interest in the U.K.’s real estate market, splashing out US $2.3 billion in total in this area.
Since May 2014, the euro has depreciated by over 25 percent against the RMB.
Undervalued European assets have sparked the investment interest of Chinese enterprises hoping to link domestic commodities and the market with Europe.
The pressure of sovereign debt crises and government financial deficits has forced European countries to further open up to foreign acquisitions, creating opportunities for
A Win-Win Choice
