Arab countries, five Central Asian countries, Latin American countries... As the investment cooperation between the countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" in these regions and China is heating up, China's foreign investment cooperation continues to maintain a growth trend.

According to data recently released by the Ministry of Commerce, China's outward non-financial direct investment from January to May was 60.2 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16.3%. The turnover of China's foreign contracted projects reached 58.79 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%; The newly signed contract amount is 87.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%.

Regarding this, Lyu Yue, a professor at the National Institute of Opening up and Executive Dean of the Institute of Global Innovation and Governance at the University of International Business and Economics, stated that overall data shows that from January to May, China's outward investment data grew strongly and steadily, and outward investment cooperation further became stable and far-reaching. Foreign non-financial direct investment has shown a rapid growth trend, demonstrating a gradually deepening trend of foreign investment cooperation and positive spillover effects of China's stable economic growth.

The revenue growth of foreign contracted projects has been relatively stable, especially the amount of newly signed contracts is particularly impressive. This is due to both China's internal empowerment in forming a global competitive advantage in key industries and infrastructure construction, as well as the external driving force of countries around the world increasing their recognition of China's economy and actively strengthening multilateral and bilateral investment cooperation. In the future, China's foreign investment still has a relatively optimistic potential for sustained growth, "Lyu Yue further said.

The "the Belt and Road" countries continue to lead China's foreign investment cooperation to grow. Data shows that from January to May, non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in the "the Belt and Road" countries reached 12.81 billion US dollars, up 12.7% year on year. The turnover of Chinese enterprises jointly constructing national contracting projects in the "the Belt and Road" was 48.01 billion US dollars, up 9.5% year on year; The newly signed contract amount is 69.71 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 20.2%.

"From the perspective of the regional layout of outbound investment, China's non-financial direct investment in the the Belt and Road co construction countries increased by 12.7% year on year, indicating that the the Belt and Road is still an important destination for China's outbound investment, and the bilateral and multilateral investment cooperation with the co construction countries has become a 'ballast' and 'booster'." Lyu Yue said.

In the "the Belt and Road" co built countries, China's investment cooperation with Arab countries is growing. At the end of May this year, the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the China Arab States Cooperation Forum was held in Beijing, during which China proposed a future outlook for China Arab States cooperation to "build a more large-scale investment and financial pattern".

Currently, China Arab relations are at their best in history, with increasingly close economic, trade, and investment cooperation. China's two-way investment in Arab countries continues to expand, with a direct investment stock of over 30 billion US dollars. Among them, the volume of contracted projects in Arab countries has significantly increased. Lyu Yue predicts that under the promotion of the China Arab Cooperation Forum, China will strengthen its outward investment cooperation with Arab countries in strategic emerging industries such as digital technology, artificial intelligence, aerospace, infrastructure such as railways, airports, ports, renewable energy, oil and gas, and other energy fields.

As countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road", the five Central Asian countries are also hot spots for China's foreign investment cooperation. In recent years, China has maintained effective all-round cooperation with the five Central Asian countries, focusing on building a closer China Central Asia community with a shared future. As of March 2023, China's direct investment stock in the five Central Asian countries exceeded 15 billion US dollars, and the cumulative completed engineering contracting revenue reached 63.9 billion US dollars.

With the establishment and improvement of exchange and cooperation mechanisms such as the China Central Asia Cooperation Forum, China Central Asia Summit, and Senior Officials' Meeting on Economic and Trade Cooperation, both sides are expected to continue promoting investment and trade cooperation in infrastructure, oil and gas mining, processing and manufacturing, healthcare, education and technology, digital economy, and other fields, "said Lyu Yue.

Shift your focus to Latin America. At present, China and Latin American countries are working together to build a China Latin America community with a shared future. Political mutual trust and economic and trade cooperation continue to deepen, and cooperation in infrastructure and other fields continues to reach new heights. As of the end of 2022, China's direct investment stock in Latin America reached 596.15 billion US dollars, making the region the second largest destination for Chinese enterprises' overseas investment.

The 10th China Latin America Infrastructure Cooperation Forum, which was successfully held recently, is the first professional forum in the field of infrastructure under the framework of the China Latin America Forum, and has played a positive role in promoting the interconnection of infrastructure between China and Latin America. Lyu Yue said that the forum has pointed out the direction for future investment cooperation between China and Latin America, that is, China's investment cooperation in Latin America has broad prospects in large-scale infrastructure projects, key mineral development, green and clean energy, and industrial chain and supply chain cooperation is also a key focus.

Looking ahead to the future, Lyu Yue believes that China's "circle of friends" for foreign investment cooperation will only become larger and more diverse. The countries jointly built along the "the Belt and Road" will be the main direction of China's foreign investment, and the investment cooperation with Arab countries, Central Asian countries, Latin American countries, etc. will be promising.