Development of Chinese direct investment in Germany
According to the official Chinese statistics released by
MOFCOM, Chinese direct investment in Germany grewcon-
tinuously in the period between 2009 and 2014, unabated
by the euro crisis.
The annual inflows of Chinese FDI into
Germany suffered fromstrong fluctuations in the years
between 2004 and 2008, which may partly reflect the larger
value of the M&Atransactions in the context of overall
investment volumes that were still small. Overall, however,
Germany has become more important as a target for Chi –
nese FDI in terms of absolute volume, growing almost by
the factor of 50 in this period fromUS $28 million in
2004 to US $1. 4 billion in 2014. In 2015, MOFCOMdata
indicates a dramatic break in Chinese FDI outflows to Ger-
many, which dropped to j ust US $409. 6 million; no detailed
explanation is provided (MOFCOMet al. 2016: 27). This
could be the result of the slowrecovery in the EU, since
overall Chinese investment in Europe dropped in that year
as well. But an increase in Chinese investments in Ger-
many via Hong Kong or other offshore centers not shown in
national statistics may also play a role.
For the period from
January to July 2016, MOFCOMhas reported a rapid return
of Chinese FDI in Germany, up 200. 6 percent over the
pre- vious year (MOFCOM, 17. 8. 2016). 2015 can therefore be
considered a short-termslump in the overall trend. Chinese
FDI stock in Germany has grown by the factor of 46 from
US $129 million in 2004 to US $5. 9 billion by 2015.
EU Forecast
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