Greenfield projects more diversified

While M&A activities focus primarily on the machine tool and the
automotive industry, ICT, services, consumer goods, and
energy play a far greater role in Chinese greenfield invest-
ments in Germany. This can be seen in an analysis of var-
ious sets of data on Chinese M&A transactions and green-
field proj ects over different periods. The MERICS/RHG
study provides data on both forms of market entry (Hane-
mann and Huotari 2015: 22) , while GTAI only reports on
greenfield proj ects (based on the commercial fDi markets database).

Several sets of data about Chinese M&A activ-
ities published by corporate consulting firms and supple-
mented by the author’ s own research have resulted in a
newly generated data set showing 99 Chinese M&A trans-
actions completed in Germany from2014 through October
2016. The available data confirms that Chinese invest-
ment in Germany is primarily being made in Germa-
ny’ s flagship industries. In addition, it can be said that
at least 51 of the 99 Chinese M&A transactions in Ger-
many between 2014 and October 2016 align with the “Made
in China 2025” strategy.

For example, investment in the
pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry, as promoted
in the strategy, has strengthened since 2015, after hav-
ing played a largely minor role in the past (;
Emons 2013: 20; Wassner 2015: 5).