On the morning of the 27th, the Spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce answered questions from the media about the proposed U.S. investment restriction measures. The spokesperson said that we have noticed that the U.S. news regarding the proposed investment restrictions measures is being closely watched and will be evaluated against Chinese enterprises. The potential impact.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lu Wei also stated at the regular press conference held on the 27th that China will continue to closely monitor the impact of this move on global investment and trade relations among major economies in the world. It is the impact on the global macro economy under the current situation.
In the past two days, the U.S. government released confusing information on trade issues. It said for a moment that the U.S. measures are aimed at China and, for a while, it is against the countries in the world that pose a threat to the United States.
In response, U.S. President Trump made his latest statement: On the 26th, he stated that he will abandon the plan to impose new restrictions on Chinese investment in U.S. technology. Instead, he will use the existing U.S. Federal Government Agency Foreign Investment Committee (CFIUS) to step up checks. He also stated that 'this practice will be aimed at all countries, not just China'.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 26th, when asked about related issues, Lu Hao said that China’s position was consistent and firm. It will not change because of the moment. He said that today’s international In the economic field, tensions and problems between some major economies have arisen. Like most members of the international community, China still maintains that it must maintain and promote the existing international economic and trade financial order and related standards and continue to promote trade and investment. Liberalization and Facilitation. We believe this is the fundamental way to solve the problem.
A close-to-Chinese negotiator told the First Financial reporter that China will fully respond to what measures the United States will issue.
Internal contradictions are made public
Gary Hufer, a senior trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, participated in the hearing on the Foreign Investment Risk Assessment Modernization Act (FIRRMA) at the end of January this year. The bill was jointly promoted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Congress. A bill to solve the country's urgent problems.
Hoferbo told the First Financial Reporter that as long as Trump is in the US president, the trade dispute between China and the United States will continue. 'Trump will block any important Chinese investment in U.S. technology companies.' He does not believe that Trump will really levy a tariff on such a large-scale (US$200 billion) import from China.
On the 19th, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on the White House statement on June 18 that the US has intensified its efforts after launching a $50 billion tax collection list, threatening to set a tax bill of 200 billion US dollars. The deceitful practice, which deviates from the consensus of the two sides, has also caused great disappointment in the international community. If the US loses its rationality and issues a list, China will have to adopt a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures to make a strong counter-measure.
In foreign investment in the United States, Trump announced in March this year that it will introduce measures to restrict Chinese companies from investing in the United States. He initially drafted a plan for US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin for 60 days, after several twists and turns. The final time is set on June 30th.
Influenced by the Trump administration or the adoption of more investment restrictions on Chinese companies, the US stock market suffered a severe setback on the 25th, local time, and the three major indexes in New York fell.
Munukin said on the 25th that the upcoming U.S. Treasury investment restrictions are not specifically targeted at China, but apply to 'all countries that are trying to steal our technology'. Mutukin Twitter on social networking sites (43.7, -1.14, - 2.54%) The article states that the media’s report on investment restrictions is 'wrong, false news'.
However, later on the 25th, White House trade adviser Navarro told American media that the investment restrictions on U.S. technology companies will only be aimed at China.
This is not the first time that members of the United States cabinet have issued ambivalent voices on foreign economic policies. On May 19, China and the United States issued a joint statement saying that they would not fight the trade war. One day later, Mu Nuchin and Trade Representative Lite Shizzle had The publication of conflicting statements also shows the internal division of the Trump team.
Zhou Shiyi, a senior researcher at the Sino-U.S. Relations Research Center at Tsinghua University, told the First Financial reporter that this indicates that Trump is facing a difficult situation to cope with different internal opinions, and is also facing pressure to elect voters in the mid-term.
Chinese investment in the United States encountered 'protectionism'
In fact, since the beginning of this year, Chinese companies have felt the chill in the United States.
On the evening of March 12 this year, Broadcom, the world's top semiconductor company, launched a total acquisition of US$142 billion for Qualcomm’s (55.17, -1.28, -2.27%) companies (Qualcomm). The general government terminated the motion on the grounds of national security.
A number of people involved in cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the United States told the First Financial Reporter that although it appears that the purchaser of the case is a US-listed company headquartered in Singapore, it is behind this matter that it is worried about China’s capital. This is a significant signal. , It is expected that in the coming period, Chinese-funded enterprises investing in the United States will face increasing protectionism, and risks and costs will increase.
Since then, on March 22nd, both China and the United States began to experience multiple trade disputes. The Chinese-funded environment for the United States went from bad to worse.
A report by the American Rongding Company on the 20th about Chinese enterprises investing in the United States during the first half of the year (the “investment report”) stated that Chinese investors are facing a double change in US policy, that is, the US Congress is passing the US Foreign Investment Commission. (CFIUS) to expand the national security investment review system, while the Trump government threatened to invoke the '301 investigation' results to use more investment restrictions on China. At the same time, the investment report believes that with FIRLMA is still through active public debate and extensive Compared with the statutory procedure for polishing, what is more urgent is the policy that may be introduced at the end of the month, but no one can determine what the unsurpassable Trump administration will do.
According to the investment report, due to multiple policy pressures, Chinese companies’ mergers and acquisitions in the United States and greenfield investments in the first five months of the year were only US$1.8 billion, which was 92% lower than the same period in 2017. This is the lowest level in the past seven years. If you consider the divestiture of assets, this year China's direct investment in the United States is -78 billion U.S. dollars. In the first five months of this year, Chinese investors sold 9.6 billion U.S. dollars worth of assets, and the number of transactions also dropped significantly. After 2014, the average annual transaction was six months. 85 in total, and only 69 in the second half of 2017. In the first half of 2018, there were only 39 in the first half, setting a new low in six years.
In March of this year, a report released by the “451 Institute”, a think-tank of the United States, stated that since the US regulatory authorities scrutinized transactions involving US technology companies as acquisition targets, the scale of China’s related acquisitions in the United States decreased by 87% last year. Since then, there have been at least five widely-listed overseas Chinese M&A deals that were terminated by CFIUS. In addition to semiconductors and finance, they even included a merger that was marked as 'Pig Breeding Company'.