Australia Foreign Investment Review Board Report Offers Data on Chinese Investment Transactions
The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board recently released its annual report for 2019-2020, documenting the foreign investment transactions it considered during that period. The report offers data and explanations related to investment coming into Australia from China.
The report provides the following table of "Approvals by country of investor, by industry sector" (figures are in Australian dollars):
|
Country |
|
Number of |
Agriculture, |
Finance & |
Manufacturing, |
Mineral |
Real |
Services |
Total |
|
|
|
|
$m |
$m |
$m |
$m |
$m |
$m |
$m |
|
UNITED STATES |
|
305 |
716.8 |
2,540.5 |
283.9 |
4,681.9 |
13,088.8 |
27,877.5 |
49,189.3 |
|
JAPAN |
|
129 |
197.8 |
1,334.0 |
17,487.9 |
226.7 |
1,059.9 |
1,774.9 |
22,081.1 |
|
SINGAPORE |
|
423 |
1,374.8 |
1,727.4 |
798.3 |
8.9 |
9,541.6 |
2,740.4 |
16,191.3 |
|
CANADA |
|
260 |
2,550.4 |
195.0 |
2,048.2 |
597.2 |
3,307.1 |
7,325.9 |
16,023.8 |
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
|
350 |
232.4 |
2,274.2 |
464.6 |
1,339.2 |
1,583.0 |
9,027.4 |
14,920.7 |
|
CHINA |
|
4,314 |
300.5 |
1,030.0 |
1,936.7 |
836.5 |
7,110.7 |
1,538.4 |
12,752.8 |
|
HONG KONG |
|
743 |
205.5 |
97.6 |
417.5 |
13.9 |
2,412.2 |
8,153.1 |
11,299.7 |
|
FRANCE |
|
90 |
23.0 |
‑ |
5,033.5 |
301.3 |
2,415.8 |
1,212.2 |
8,985.8 |
|
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
|
80 |
39.8 |
865.9 |
136.3 |
53.0 |
688.1 |
2,776.4 |
4,559.4 |
|
GERMANY |
|
85 |
98.2 |
‑ |
308.3 |
4.5 |
3,686.1 |
265.4 |
4,362.5 |
|
NETHERLANDS |
|
69 |
495.6 |
2.9 |
155.0 |
‑ |
1,085.6 |
597.0 |
2,336.2 |
|
SAUDI ARABIA |
|
25 |
22.2 |
798.2 |
40.1 |
1.4 |
21.0 |
1,274.9 |
2,157.8 |
|
MALAYSIA |
|
298 |
27.1 |
643.4 |
5.6 |
204.5 |
556.7 |
593.8 |
2,031.1 |
|
NEW ZEALAND |
|
35 |
331.2 |
33.0 |
261.4 |
5.4 |
32.5 |
1,140.9 |
1,804.5 |
|
THAILAND |
|
29 |
128.3 |
‑ |
‑ |
166.1 |
1,360.7 |
‑ |
1,655.1 |
|
SWITZERLAND |
|
47 |
159.3 |
18.4 |
214.4 |
0.4 |
504.7 |
623.3 |
1,520.4 |
|
PHILIPPINES |
|
29 |
4.5 |
‑ |
907.5 |
‑ |
16.4 |
91.6 |
1,020.0 |
|
IRELAND |
|
14 |
11.4 |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
18.8 |
942.3 |
972.5 |
|
|
|||||||||
|
Other Countries |
|
1,617 |
827.1 |
106.3 |
1,194.2 |
939.9 |
2,626.5 |
2,423.9 |
8,117.8 |
|
New Dwelling EC |
|
38 |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
1,621.7 |
‑ |
1,621.7 |
|
Subtotal |
|
8,980 |
7,745.8 |
11,666.7 |
31,693.4 |
9,380.7 |
52,737.8 |
70,379.2 |
183,603.6 |
|
Australia |
|
214 |
469.2 |
1,884.4 |
1,259.3 |
1,809.1 |
3,085.9 |
3,168.7 |
11,676.6 |
|
Total |
|
9,194 |
8,215.0 |
13,551.1 |
32,952.7 |
11,189.8 |
55,823.7 |
73,547.9 |
195,280.2 |
The report explains that with regard to China, "[w]hile approved proposed investment by number from China fell by almost 600 approvals in 2019–20, the value of Chinese approvals remained effectively stable overall ($12.75 billion in 2019–20 compared to $13.14 billion in 2018–19). China moved to the sixth largest source country by value." It also notes that "[w]hile the value of proposed investment from China in 2019–20 ($12.8 billion) remained relatively steady compared to 2018–19 ($13.1 billion), China was the sixth top source of approved investment in 2019–20 (down from fifth largest source country in 2018–19)."
In terms of specific sectors, the report says that "[i]n 2019‑20, the value of proposed investment from China increased in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, finance and insurance sector, manufacturing, electricity and gas sector and the real estate sector," while "[t]here was a decrease in the value of approvals from China in the mineral exploration and development sector ($2.7 billion in 2018–19 to $0.8 billion in 2019–20), and in the services sector ($3.5 billion in 2018–19 to $1.5 billion in 2019–20)."
The Australian government has tightened its control over foreign investments in recent years, which is a clear move targeting China. In addition, a deteriorating China-Australia relationship has also turned away some Chinese investors. These factors are likely to have contributed to a drop in Chinese investment in Australia after a peak in 2016.