China overtook the United States as the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) recipient by 2020, the year in which global trends as a whole were severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
FDI plunged 42% by 2020, to about $ 859 billion from $ 1.5 trillion the previous year. This is the lowest level ever recorded since the 1990s and 30% lower when the world was hit by the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.
A UN trade agency reported on Sunday that China had brought in $ 163 billion last year, compared with the United States at $ 134 billion.
Positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and investment facility programs have helped boost investment in China following the closure of the country's first coronavirus.
Among the Chinese sector, the high-tech industry saw an increase in FDI of 11%, while cross-border mergers and acquisitions increased by 54% mostly in the information and communication technology and pharmaceutical industries.
Meanwhile, inflows to North America declined 46% to $ 166 billion and inflows to the United States alone fell 49% to an estimated $ 134 billion by 2020.
Meanwhile, the situation in Europe worsened, with a two-quarter decline to a negative $ 4 billion. In the United Kingdom, FDI fell to zero, and declines were recorded in other major countries.
Globally, UN agencies expect foreign direct investment to remain weak by 2021 due to uncertainty following the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
