China Invests $20 Billion Overseas in 3Q

Chinese firms definitely pulled out their checkbooks this quarter.

According to a report published by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), Chinese companies invested US$20.5 billion overseas in the 3rd quarter for a year-on-year increase of 190%. Who are the buyers? Mainly state-owned companies (SOE's). What did they buy? Almost exclusively natural resources in over 100 countries. Over 40% of the transactions involved acquiring a controlling stake. These statistics exclude financial sector acquisitions and off-take deals (such as China's US$10 billion arrangement with Brazil's Petrobras).

Here (below) is a chart showing China's share of world commodity usage.