Chinese Firms Are Investing Abroad at Fastest Pace in Eight Years

  • Job-creating factories abroad may help allay export complaints
  • But China faces ‘huge suspicion’ over its investment plans
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China’s overseas investment is heading for an eight-year high as its dominant firms build more factories abroad, a shift that could soften criticism of Beijing’s export drive.

Chinese companies made 243 billion yuan ($33.5 billion) in foreign direct investments from January to March, dataBloomberg Terminal released last week showed. That was the highest first-quarter figure since 2016 — before a crackdown on capital outflows -– and up almost 13% from a year earlier.