China overtakes US as largest recipient of foreign direct investment

China has overtaken the United States as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment, which rose by 4 per cent to reach $163 billion there in 2020, according to a recent UN report.

By contrast, that kind of investment into the US dropped by 49 per cent year on year, mirroring a global decrease of 42 per cent in 2020, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in its report.

It added that such low levels haven’t been seen since the 1990s, and they are expected to continue in 2021 amid uncertainty over how the coronavirus pandemic will play out.

The drop in foreign direct investment worldwide hit developed countries the hardest, which reported a decrease of 69 per cent.

China’s rise to the top of the chart, which the US had occupied for decades – as well as it being the only major economy to report economic growth in 2020, expanding by 2.3 per cent – demonstrates the strengthened position of the world’s second-largest economy.

This position reflects China’s return to normal life after the first coronavirus infections were discovered in the city of Wuhan just more than a year ago, but with only a few local outbreaks reported in the past few weeks.

Source: GNA