China Is Scaring Away Foreign Investors That Its Cities Want
- State’s latest anti-spy campaign disrupts business outreaches
- Overseas investors remain cautious amid declining sentiment
Qingdao, a port city in Shandong province, China.
Photographer: AFP/Getty Images
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China’s unpredictable policy making is deterring foreign investment that the country’s cash-strapped cities are desperate to entice.
Local officials are cold calling foreign entrepreneurs and bringing roadshows overseas as they seek to bolster coffers depleted by years of pandemic spending and a cratering property market. They also face pressure from the central government to boost investment in what the commerce ministry has dubbed the “Year of Investing in China.”