foreign direct investment

MNCs in the News-2019-11-01

Chinese Vice Minister promises better treatment and protections for foreign direct investment (FDI), no forced tech transfers, and more rapid opening of financial sector. United States (US) contemplates new methods for increasing China’s protection of US intellectual property (IP) such as blacklisting repeat IP right violators. Chinese Ambassador in Malaysia stresses the needs for Chinese companies to deliver the goods as well as respect local laws and customs. Massive Laos high-speed rail project has many problems and multiple critics, but likely to continue given country’s desire to surmount its landlocked status. Japan’s Finance Ministry works to counter anxieties about Japan’s new FDI review regime by, among other things, providing more specifics. Toyota breaks with Honda about backing California’s new automobile emissions standards. Executives at Samsung Electronics and Samsung BioLogics faced serious accounting fraud charges relating to the revaluation of a stake in a US joint venture. Rising number of Korean firms in China report that they are increasingly affected by US-trade war.

Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard speaks at EU-China Roundtable on “The Business of Trade, Investment, and Global Politics.”

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, participated in a EU-China Roundtable on “The Business of Trade, Investment, and Global Politics” organized by the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies and European Studies Centers. At the Roundtable in Pittsburgh, held on October 24, Dr.

Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard presents paper on China-India Relations in the Context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at Seminar on “The Future of Sino-Indian Relations”

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, presented a paper on China-India Relations in the Context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at a seminar on “The Future of Sino-Indian Relations: Problems and Prospects” held at Heidelberg University, Germany in mid-October 2019. Dr.

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Pundits Posit China’s New Foreign Direct Investment Law Progresses!

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
Posted: Oct 27, 2019

In May, China passed a new law relating to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that comes into effect at the beginning of 2020. This law replaces three laws relating to wholly-owned foreign enterprises, contractual joint ventures (JVs), and equity JVs that previously constituted China’s formal FDI regime.

MNCs in the News-2019-10-25

China’s draft implementing foreign direct investment (FDI) law regulations draw generally positive comments from key foreign industry associations. Senior China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) official touts his country’s progress in enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). Senior United States (US) senators ask for review of TikTok for potential counterintelligence risks as well as censorship. Tanzania revamps terms of USD $10 billion Bagamoyo port project for China Merchants Holdings International. Brexit and slow growth prospects in Japan lead Japan’s Hitachi to pursue opportunities in the US and Thailand. Japan’s Uniqlo pulls commercial airing in Korea that seemed to mock victims of wartime forced labor as well as comfort women. Iraq’s Port Authority awards South Korea’s Daewoo contract for prefabrication yard that is part of its Al Faw new port project. South Korean firms both suffer and gain from US restrictions against Huawei.

MNCs in the News-2019-10-18

At a State Council meeting, China promised more action to eliminate restrictive policies on foreign direct investment (FDI). China’s State Council announced new measures to expand the opening of its financial sector to foreign banks and insurers. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) reported that China’s non-financial outward FDI grew 3.8 percent for the 1st three quarters of 2019 year-over-year (YOY), a slight improvement over the prior YOY period. Per a high ranking Cambodian official, for the period 2016 to August 2019 China was his country’s largest investor, with the Belt and Road facilitating this. Japan may exempt asset management companies, including hedge funds, from its new FDI review regime. A no-deal Brexit might significantly impair the value of Nissan’s FDI in the United Kingdom (UK). Strikes at GM Korea and other issues have dented Korea’s exports. Doosan Group’s move to transfer its data storage and protection system to Amazon Web Services raises concerns about development of local cloud computing sector.

MNCs in the News-2019-10-11

China Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman rejects claim that Beijing is forcing American companies to abandon their values. China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has put forth the specific timetable when 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) stakes in brokerages, futures, and fund management companies will be allowed. United States (US) Senator Marco Rubio has sent a letter to the US Department of the Treasury requesting a national security review of China’s Beijing ByteDance Technology Co.’s acquisition of Musical.ly. US sanctions may have driven China National Petroleum Corporation’s dismissal from Iran’s South Pars field Phase 11 project. Japan and South Korea will soon have consultations relating to South Korea’s World Trade Organization case against Japanese export controls. Pressure from international institutions and business considerations are driving Japanese firms to pay more attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in their Southeast Asian supply chains. Korea witnesses growth in inward FDI for the first time in five quarters, with strength in new industrial sectors. Samsung Electronics contemplate major semiconductor FDI in Xian despite poor macro-political and economic conditions because of needs of Chinese government and customers.

MNCs-2019-10-04

China’s Financial Stability and Development Committee recently emphasized that the country will take further steps to promote “two-way financial opening.” Despite China’s general and targeted efforts to bring in more foreign investors, investors are holding back on investments partly because of China’s capital controls. It appears that Chinese venture capital (VC) flows into the US for 2019 will run even lower than 2015, a particularly abysmal year for VC investment. Iraq has said that it will sign on to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The Japanese government has submitted a bill to the Diet pursuant to which the threshold for reviewing foreign direct investment (FDI) in sensitive sectors will plunge from 10 to 1 percent. Japan-Korea parliamentary unions work to facilitate the resolution of Japan-Korea economic and political tensions, though their actual influence seems limited. Automobile production by foreign firms in Korea is plunging to post-Great Financial Crisis levels due in part to labor problems. US President Donald Trump tweets for joy about Hyundai Motor Group’s joint venture with Aptiv.

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Investing in No Chinese Investment

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
Posted: Sep 30, 2019

These days “Washington” seems to think little of Chinese investment. It does not matter if it is Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States (US) or US FDI in China. Importantly, the core concerns in each case are different.

MNCs in the News-2019-09-27

At an event in the United States (US), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed China’s opening, the value of its new foreign investment law, and its improving negative list. Chinese analysts criticized a European Chamber of Commerce in China report for blaming the woes of European firms in China on China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) rather than the highly competitive business environment in China. The joint investment fund between China’s China Investment Corporation and US bank Goldman Sachs has only recently made its first investment due to problematic the problematic political environment. China Power International Holdings concludes memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Norway’s SOE energy producer Equinor for cooperation in renewable energy. Japan concludes MoU with European Union calling for cooperation on infrastructure, transport, and digital project and the need for projects to be environmentally and fiscally sustainable. Japan and Indonesia sign a deal for a more than USD $4.2 billion medium speed train project which is partially politically motivated. Korea’s trade war with Japan is fueling the development of domestic supply chains and the reshoring of Korean firms. Concurrent with Korean President Moon Jae-In’s visit to the US many Korean companies announced their investments in the US.

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