Chinese Outbound Investments into US (2004-2012)

Abstract

This study analyses Chinese outbound investment into the US since 2004, the year when the Chinese made their initial major acquisition of a US owned organisation. The empirical data is from 2004-2012 inclusive, and extends across M&A/equity investments as well as major Bank Loans and major Trade Agreements. The data has been assembled solely from public sources, and in many cases, from the Grisons Peak China Outbound database.

In this study, we posit that there are three distinctive stages of Chinese outbound investments into the US: (1) an initial phase (2004-2006), (2) financial services brands via equity/funds Investments (2007-2009), and (3) a shift to trade agreements (post financial crisis). For each phase we discuss the main transactions and their characteristics.

Keywords: China, cross-border M&A, outward foreign direct investment, US

JEL Classification: G34, G38