Tag: COVID-19

October 26, 2020
Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, was interviewed for a Financial Times story covering plummeting foreign direct investment (FDI) flows between China and the United States (US).  The story described trends in bilateral FDI statistics,...
October 3, 2020
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issues rules relating to China’s long-discussed “unreliable entities” list. MOFCOM tells foreign companies not to worry about unreliable entities list as it is not targeted at any specific country or company. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation is preparing to launch an antitrust investigation into…
September 5, 2020
On October 1, China will establish a new compliant mechanism that, among other things, will allow foreign business associations to raise concerns about the investment environment. China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has given permission for a second foreign asset management joint venture (JV), involving BlackRock and Temasek. Looking to…
July 7, 2020
China Ministry of Commerce data shows respectable year-over-year inward foreign direct investment growth (FDI) in April and May, with some hoping for continued growth in the 2nd half of the year. China’s new development initiatives for its Western regions are not succeeding in attracting inward FDI (IFDI) for both business…
June 1, 2020
China’s recently issued Guideline regarding its economy contains numerous favorable, albeit general, offerings for foreign direct investment (FDI). To retaliate against United States (US) exports controls against Huawei, China readies itself to add US companies to an “unreliable entity list” which may subject them to various sanctions. US Chamber of…
May 30, 2020
How fast sentiments can change!  The much vaunted opening of China’s financial sector to foreign banking, insurance, and securities firms has become a source of angst with observers now wondering if foreign financial players such as Allianz, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Nomura, and UBS will get caught up, directly or indirectly, in...
April 28, 2020
Last month, I wrote pessimistically about the prospects for foreign direct investment (FDI) in China in the post-coronavirus world.  Contrastingly, I am not so pessimistic about the future of Chinese outward FDI (OFDI), though China’s economic situation, the challenged cash flows and balance sheets of Chinese investors (state-owned and private),...
April 19, 2020
China’s Ministry of Commerce reported that inward foreign direct investment (FDI) plunged over the first three quarters of 2020 when compared to 2019 largely due to the effects of Covid-19. A Shanghai court ordered Chinese shoe company New Barlun to pay USD $1.41 million in damages and litigation costs for…
March 29, 2020
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has issued more than 6400 force majeure certificates to help suppliers deal with their inability to meet their contractual obligations. Per China’s Ministry of Commerce, Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first two months of 2020 totaled USD…
March 26, 2020
The coronavirus, otherwise known as Covid-19, has hit foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into China hard.  This should surprise no one—money is scarce; the payback from FDI now seems far away; and resources are being husbanded on the home front.  This has not stopped foreign businesspeople in China from trying...