Rolling Up the Welcome Mat for Chinese Investors

Globally, the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic is pushing even businesses with good ideas, smart technology or valuable resources closer to bankruptcy. You’d think that governments would welcome any investors willing to save them. Instead, that prospect is scaring more and more countries — because much of the cash could well come from China.

Worries about Chinese firms snatching up companies at distressed prices have prompted new regulations across the world, even if few of them clearly state who they’re targeting. Italy, the first European country ravaged by the coronavirus, massively extended the “golden power” regulations that allow it to prevent takeovers in strategic sectors; those now cover water, health care, media, power, finance and food production. Australia, France and Germany are similarly extending their powers of supervision and control. The European Commission has warned its member states “to be vigilant and use all tools available at Union and national level to avoid that the current crisis leads to a loss of critical assets and technology.”