China's great outward march of investing into the United States is turning into a mad dash. Chinese investments into the U.S. rose 360 percent in the first half of this year compared to last year, according to recent Chinese government figures.
But not everyone -- namely U.S. steelmakers who are trying to block Chinese investments in the name of "national security" concerns -- is being so welcoming, holding up at least one major deal announced in May.
The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing has not yet released actual figures except to say that the total of its global overseas investments had reached $55.2bn by the end of June, compared to $43.3bn for the entirety of 2009. Last year, Chinese companies announced new direct investments in the U.S. of close to $5bn -- up from an average of $500m a year previously, according to economic consultancy the Rhodium Group.
