By contrast, Chinese investment in Germany, particularly in
the formof mergers and acquisitions (M&A) , is a relatively
new phenomenon. The increase of Chinese FDI in Germany
contributes to balancing bilateral investment flows between
the two countries, although there was a sharp decline in
2015.
However, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce
(MOFCOM) has reported a rapid increase of 200. 6 percent
year-over-year in Chinese FDI in Germany for the period
between January and July 2016 (MOFCOM, 17. 8. 2016). As
discussed above, this development has triggered a series
of ambivalent reactions in Germany, mainly due to uncer-
tainty regarding the role of the Chinese state. This has
caused questions to be raised about howto deal with Chi –
nese investment, especially acquisitions of companies in
promising key sectors. This study consequently seeks to
analyze the development of Chinese FDI worldwide and in
particular in Germany on the basis of existing international
and national statistics and, wherever possible, to evaluate
its economic significance for Germany as well as the chal –
lenges and opportunities it represents. This will provide a
basis to examine the question of whether Chinese invest-
ment in Germany should be a cause for concern or even a
trigger for protectionist measures. Since the available data
on Chinese FDI is heterogeneous, the Appendix contains
detailed explanations of the data sets used. For better read-
ability, in the discussion that follows, we have opted not
to include such details.
Thematically, this focus is linked
to three previous studies by the Bertelsmann Stiftung on
the issue of Chinese investment in Germany with differ-
ent foci.
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