The International Investment Forum (IIF) 2014 – a major event in the 18th China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT) – was held on Sept 9th in Xiamen, Fujian province with the theme of “a new framework of global investment”. 


David Daokui Li, the Mansfield Freemen Chair Professor of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University attended the International Investment Forum and shared his view on the new framework of global investment. [Xiaoyu Liu for China Daily]

China’s foreign investments have accelerated and are about to break through the $100 billion barrier this year, making China the world’s biggest foreign investor right after the US and Japan. China has worked to slow down the utilization of foreign capital and restrain absorbing foreign capital this year, while many other countries are struggling to compete for foreign capital resources.

David Daokui Li, the Mansfield Freemen Chair Professor of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University, was invited as guest speaker at the forum. He believes that the global financial crisis in 2008 has caused a round of recession in the US. As a result, its foreign investment has started to tail off.

On the contrary, the Chinese Government has seized the opportunities at a special period of time to stimulate its investments abroad. “Our economics is like 16-year-old Yao Ming – very tall but not strong enough. That requires a tonic such as new technology, markets, new business patterns and so on,” said Li.

Moreover, the pattern of investment will be changed in the future, Li predicted. “In the past the government invested for us, but nowadays, more and more companies or individuals are interested to invest abroad.” said Li.

Yu Minhong, the founder, chairman and executive officer of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, also joined in the forum as a successful example of the head of a company investing overseas. The company launched on the US stock exchange in 2006, expanded its territory and secured support from international partners such as Cambridge University Press and the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

"To be conservative, I think China will catch up with the US on foreign investments in 2020-2025. If you are intending to invest abroad, high-technology industries and financial service industries will be good choices,” Li suggested.

By China Daily Fujian Bureau