Characteristics of international direct investment
After World War II, international direct investment developed rapidly and became the main investment mode of international investment. Especially since the 1970s, international direct investment has shown the following aspects:
(1) The scale of international direct investment has expanded rapidly and the growth rate has increased rapidly.
Since the Second World War, foreign direct investment in the world has increased at an unprecedented rate. According to statistics, the foreign direct investment of developed capitalist countries was $55.5 billion in 1960, increased to $287.2 billion in 1976, and reached $525 billion in 198 1 year. For developing countries, foreign direct investment is the main source of foreign capital. According to the statistics of more than 90 developing countries, during the period from 198 1 to 1985, the proportion of foreign direct investment in their total long-term capital inflows was 30%, while during the period from 1986 to 1990, the proportion rose to 74%.
(b) The international direct investment market is dominated by developed countries and mainly flows in two directions between developed countries.
International direct investment is more risky than indirect investment, so investors pursue safety in addition to profit. Relatively speaking, the investment environment of developed countries is better than that of developing countries, and investors naturally regard developed countries as the main markets for international direct investment.
Before World War II, the flow of international direct investment was basically one-way. Usually, capitalist countries mainly invest their capital in their affiliated places and countries. After World War II, especially after 1970s, great changes have taken place. International direct investment has mainly turned to developed countries, and the proportion of capital invested in developing countries in the total international direct investment has been declining. Take the United States as an example From 65438 to 0950, developing countries accounted for 48.8%, developed countries for 48.2%, developing countries for 34% from 65438 to 0960, developed countries for 60.6%, developing countries for 24.7% from 65438 to 0980, and developed countries for 73.5%. According to statistics, from 65438 to 0990, mutual investment among developed countries accounted for 80% of the world's total direct investment, and the foreign direct investment of the United States, Europe and Japan accounted for 83% of the world's total direct investment, and the foreign direct investment they absorbed accounted for 70% of the world's total direct investment. From 65438 to 0996, the foreign direct investment of developed countries was $295 billion, accounting for 85% of the total international direct investment absorbed, and the foreign direct investment absorbed in that year was $208 billion, accounting for 60% of the total international direct investment absorbed. It can be seen that the major developed countries occupy the monopoly position of international direct investment. In the pattern of international direct investment between developed countries, the dominance of the United States has gradually lost, and the status of Europe and Japan has been rising, forming a three-legged pattern of the United States, Europe and Japan. Nevertheless, the United States is still the main foreign direct investment country and foreign direct investment absorption country in the world today.
(3) Asia-Pacific region and Latin America are the concentrated areas for developing countries to absorb international direct investment.
While the direct investment from developed countries to developing countries is relatively decreasing, the direct investment flowing to developing countries is gradually concentrated in newly industrialized countries and regions with rapid economic development, large market capacity and good infrastructure, mainly Brazil, Mexico and the "four little dragons" in Asia.
Latin America is an area that absorbs foreign capital earlier and more. The foreign direct investment absorbed by Latin American countries was $7.7 billion in 1950, and increased to $62.5 billion in 1980, an increase of 8. 1 times. After the mid-1980s, Latin American countries' speed of absorbing foreign capital slowed down, mainly due to the huge foreign debt burden caused by the policy mistakes of using foreign capital in Mexico, Brazil and other countries, as well as the negative impact of political instability in some countries. However, the improvement of Latin American economy, especially the changes of economic policies in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, has enhanced the confidence of domestic and foreign investors and stimulated the recovery of foreign direct investment in this region.
1986, the Asia-Pacific region has replaced Latin China as the largest foreign investment attraction for developing countries in the United States. In 1988, 59% of the developed countries' direct investment in developing countries went to the Asia-Pacific region. From 65438 to 0995, international direct investment in developing countries in Asia reached $65 billion, accounting for about two-thirds of the total global direct investment in developing countries. 1997 after the southeast Asian financial crisis, international investors withdrew their funds in succession, but with the resolution of the financial crisis, the Asia-Pacific region has become a strong competitive region to absorb direct investment.
(d) International direct investment mainly flows to high-tech industries and services.
Before World War II, international direct investment was mainly concentrated in extractive industries and primary product processing industries. After World War II, with the nationalization of oil and mineral resources and the development of national economy in developing countries, the proportion of foreign monopoly capital's investment in extractive industries has gradually decreased, while the proportion of investment in manufacturing sectors has obviously increased. In the direct investment between developed countries, which accounts for the vast majority of international investment, although the proportion of investment in manufacturing industry is still relatively large, for example, by the end of 1988, 44.6% of the direct investment of the United States in western Europe was concentrated in manufacturing industry, and 42.8% of the direct investment of western Europe in the United States was also concentrated in manufacturing industry. However, with the advanced industrial structure in developed countries, the key industries of foreign direct investment have gradually shifted from traditional manufacturing industries to high-tech industries such as computers, new energy, precision machinery and bioengineering. In addition, we continue to invest in capital and technology-intensive industries. In addition, some industries in the tertiary industry, such as finance, insurance and real estate, have also become hot spots of international direct investment. The reason why tertiary industry investment accounts for a large proportion in the structure of foreign investment departments in developed countries is closely related to the increasing proportion of service industry in the whole national economy. In the gross national product of developed countries, the proportion of tertiary industry is generally above 60%. The increase of foreign investment in the tertiary industry is not only the result and performance of the industrial structure upgrading in developed countries, but also will promote the industrial structure upgrading in the host country and even the whole world.
The answer to the third question:
China has increasingly become an important factor affecting the pattern of international direct investment.
The rise of China's economy shows that the pattern of international direct investment is undergoing an important transformation. In sharp contrast to the decrease of foreign capital inflow in the Asia-Pacific region in the past two years, the upsurge of investment in China and foreign capital mergers and acquisitions in China is heating up. Because of China's stable economic growth and broad market prospects, China's attraction to foreign investment is increasing, and it has begun to have a significant impact on the pattern of international direct investment in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world. For example, in 200 1 year, the largest host country of South Korea's foreign direct investment was not the United States, but China. In addition, more and more foreign-funded enterprises are moving from Southeast Asia to China. The reason for this situation is not the cheap labor in China as people think. In fact, China has always been considered that the situation of low labor costs is changing. The data shows that the labor cost of employees in foreign-funded enterprises in China is higher than that in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Moreover, with the influx of foreign capital and the improvement of the attractiveness of domestic enterprises, the competition for qualified talents is more intense, and China's social welfare security system is constantly improving, which is increasing the investment cost of foreign companies. Therefore, the labor price advantage that affects the inflow of foreign capital into China began to decline.
In fact, the decisive factor that really affects and accelerates the inflow of foreign capital is that China's market advantages and institutional advantages (such as investment policies and transparency) are on the rise. The huge market development potential and the policy guarantee of encouraging foreign investment after China's entry into WTO have enhanced the investment confidence of multinational companies. Only from the perspective of China's foreign investment policy, in the Catalogue of Industries Directed by Foreign Investment, which came into effect in April 2002 1, the Chinese government increased the encouraged catalogue from the previous 186 to 262 on the principle of encouraging foreign investment and improving the quality of foreign capital utilization; The number of restricted categories was reduced from 1 12 to 75. At the same time, the restrictions on the shareholding ratio of foreign investors were relaxed, and the urban management network systems such as telecommunications and gas, heat, water supply and drainage, which were previously forbidden to foreign investors, were opened to the outside world for the first time, further opening up banking, insurance, commerce and other fields.
It is against this background that a large number of multinational companies express their intention to increase their investment in China. Many large multinational companies regard China as the second largest investment target in the world after the United States in their global strategies. The international competition in China's investment market will enter a new development period. From watches and glasses to automobiles and aviation, the smoke of competition will reach an unprecedented level. Take the automobile industry as an example. Under the situation that Volkswagen, Toyota and other giants are divided between the north and the south, Nissan, which is unwilling to lag behind, has made great efforts to invest 8.55 billion yuan (US$ 65.438+US$ 03 million) to form a new company with Dongfeng Motor Corporation, with both parties holding 50% shares, so as to achieve the annual sales target of 550,000 vehicles in 2006.
Under the guidance of the new foreign investment policy, foreign investors are no longer satisfied with the past investment methods such as joint ventures. In the first eight months of 2002, wholly foreign-owned enterprises accounted for 65.3% of the total number of newly approved foreign-invested enterprises, an increase of 6.3 percentage points over the same period of last year, reflecting the increasingly obvious "sole proprietorship tendency" of foreign investors. With the introduction of the policy of allowing state-owned enterprises to sell their shares to foreign investors, foreign mergers and acquisitions in China are bound to show a rapid warming phenomenon. More and more multinational companies have moved their regional headquarters to Beijing and Shanghai. In the first half of 2002, the pace of regional headquarters of multinational companies settled in Shanghai was obviously accelerated, with more than 70 in total, most of which were information technology products companies and multinational companies in logistics, shipping and other industries. It is worth pointing out that enterprises in Taiwan Province Province, China have shown great enthusiasm for investing in the mainland, while the inflow of foreign capital has been greatly reduced. Among them, 88% of the new investment in the first half of 2002 was invested in the Yangtze River Delta. Moreover, the investment in high-tech industries such as electronics in Taiwan Province Province shows an obvious growth trend.
M&A activities in the Asia-Pacific region, with China as the core, may be the first to get out of the trough and become the most active area in the world. With China starting to sell the shares of state-owned enterprises to foreign investors and improving the relevant laws and regulations of foreign M&A, the operability of foreign M&A will continue to improve, and the upsurge of foreign M&A will continue to heat up from 2003. At the same time, as the world's sixth largest economy in terms of economic aggregate and foreign trade, China's foreign investment capacity will also be rapidly improved. Especially with the rise of private economy, China will make more and more contributions to the growth of world direct investment. As neighboring countries, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region have also adjusted their industrial structures to adapt to the far-reaching impact of China's rapid economic development. In addition, the emerging Asia-Pacific region has become the most important haven for international capital. Therefore, it can be expected that a new wave of M&A with China as the core is brewing in the whole Asia-Pacific region.