Foreign direct investment in 2020: Significant decrease in US, an increase in China

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

２０２０年の対外直接投資　対米は大幅減、対中は増加

2021.01.25 Mon posted at 16:30 JST

ニューヨーク（ＣＮＮ Ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ） 国連貿易開発会議（ＵＮＣＴＡＤ）は２４日、２０２０年の海外直接投資（ＦＤＩ）に関する報告書を発表し、対米ＦＤＩは前年比４９％減の１３４０億ドルだったと明らかにした。対照的に対中ＦＤＩは同４％増の１６３０億ドルだった。外国企業は米国に背を向ける一方で、中国の拡大する経済や新型コロナウイルスに対するより優れた管理態勢を利用している。

報告書によれば、対中ＦＤＩが対米ＦＤＩを上回ったのは２０２０年が初めて。中国はいまや最も多くのＦＤＩを引き受ける国となった。

米国をはじめ世界各地でＦＤＩが落ち込んだのは新型コロナウイルスによる影響が大きいが、米国への投資の減少は新型コロナウイルス流行のはるか以前から始まっていた。

米商務省によれば、海外からの米国への投資は２０１５年の４４００億ドルをピークに大きく落ち込んだ。トランプ前大統領による独善的な通商政策が海外からの投資にとって打撃となった。特に中国からの投資は過去数年で大きく減少した。世界経済に対する不透明さの拡大も投資減少の要因となっている。

報告書によれば、対米ＦＤＩで昨年最も大きな落ち込みをみせたのは卸売業や金融サービス、製造業といった分野。

一方、中国の爆発的な経済成長や新型コロナウイルスからの急速な復活がＦＤＩの急増につながった。２０２０年の経済成長は世界の多数の国々がマイナスに落ち込むなか、中国は２．３％増だった。

全体的にみれば、２０２０年のＦＤＩは４２％の減少と１９９０年代以来の低水準となり、２００８年から０９年にかけての世界的な金融危機の水準を３０％下回った。

Translation

New York (CNN Business) -- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released on the 24th a report on foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020 which revealed that FDI with the United States was $ 134 billion, down 49% from the previous year. In contrast, FDI with China was up 4% to reach $ 163 billion. While foreign companies were turning their backs on the United States, they were taking advantage of China's expanding economy and its better control over the new coronavirus.

According to this report, 2020 was the first time for FDI with China surpassed FDI with the United States. China was now the country that undertook the most FDI.

A decline in FDI in the United States and other parts of the world was largely due to the new coronavirus, but the decline in investment in the United States began long before the epidemic of the new coronavirus.

According to the US Department of Commerce, foreign investments in the United States peaked at $ 440 billion in 2015 and then fell sharply. Former President Trump's self-righteous trade policy had hit foreign investments. In particular, investments from China had declined significantly in the last few years. Increasing uncertainty about the global economy was also a factor in the decline in investments.

According to the report, the areas of FDI with the United States that showed the biggest decline last year were in the fields of wholesale, financial services, and manufacturing.

Meanwhile, China's explosive economic growth and rapid recovery from the new coronavirus had led to a surge in FDI. Economic growth in 2020 was up 2.3% in China, while many countries in the world dropped into negative.

Overall, FDI in 2020 fell 42%, the lowest level since the 1990s, and 30% below the level of the global financial crisis of 2008-09.

              So, according to this UN report, the decline in FDI in the United States and other parts of the world was largely due to the new coronavirus, but the decline in investment in the United States began long before this pandemic. Covid-19 has changed the economic pattern globally.