Maybe it's bargain shopping. Maybe it's the fallout from the strict U.S. security climate. Maybe it's a sign of China becoming more comfortable with its international role. But as Chinese companies and entrepreneurs move to invest more overseas, they have been drawn increasingly to Europe, where a two-year surge in foreign direct investment from China eclipsed the amount flowing to the United States.
Over the past two years, Chinese companies invested more than $20 billion in the European Union compared to $11 billion in the U.S., according to a new report from the Rhodium Group.
The trend highlights the tension in the U.S. between the advantages of foreign investment and the suspicions surrounding China as an economic and military competitor. Some proposed deals in the U.S. have foundered on security concerns, and the White House recently launched an effort to try to curb hacking, intellectual property theft and other practices that U.S. authorities have traced to China.