Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard interviewed for Asia Times article on situation in Hong Kong and impact on Chinese investment

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, was interviewed for a Asia Times story about the impact of Hong Kong protests on Chinese overseas foreign direct investment (FDI). The issue arises because a large proportion of Chinese outward FDI (OFDI), almost 60 percent, flows through Hong Kong. Chinese OFDI (COFDI) is already facing pressures because of increased sensitivites in host countries, project problems, and other factors. Dr. Blanchard concurred that COFDI likely would slow over the next few years because of these aforementioned issues and added that sensitivities pertaining to COFDI in infrastructure would be a special limiting factor as would budgetary problems in host countries. He observed, though, that Chinese firms would continue to win overseas contracts. The original story appears as Toh Han Shih, "HK Protests Risk Hurting Chinese Investments," Asia Times Online, August 30, 2019, https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/08/article/hk-protests-risk-hurting-chinese-investments/