, Columnist
China's Buying Spree Ends Badly
Access to foreign investment shouldn't be political.
It doesn't always work out.
Photographer: Zhang Peng/LightRocketThis article is for subscribers only.
China's overseas acquisition streak seems to be coming to an unhappy end. Outward direct investment fell by 46 percent in the first half of the year, due partly to tightened capital controls and partly to new restrictions on "irrational investments." But the authorities should be asking a more fundamental question: Why do China's companies struggle so much overseas?
Typically, companies that expand abroad -- through either trade or investment -- are the best and most productive in their industry at home. They offer better or cheaper products, make more money than their competitors, and have capital to spare expanding into new markets.