Annual Chinese investment in Spain has reached 409 million euros, according to a new ESADE report presented in Beijing

With total investments topping €26 billion, the European Union is the top destination for Chinese investors worldwide. Among EU countries, Spain is 9th biggest recipient of Chinese investment. These are the main conclusions of a new report presented this morning in Beijing: Chinese Investment in Europe 2014. Written by ESADEgeo in collaboration with KPMG and Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, the new study is the first of its kind.

According to the report, the EU received €26.768 billion in stock from China in 2012 alone. Of this sum, 85% went to Luxembourg, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden. Spain received a total of €409 million from Chinese investors in 2012, making it the Asian giant’s 9th favourite investment destination.

At the presentation of the report this morning in Beijing, Ivana Casaburi, the report’s author and Director of ESADE’s China Europe Club, offered the following prediction: "Chinese investment will continue to grow by leaps and bounds, and interest in Spanish companies in the IT, biotech, energy and infrastructure sectors will increase."

"One of the main reasons for Chinese companies to invest in Spain is to expand their market and enlarge their pool of potential consumers," said Prof. Casaburi. Over the past 10 years, 38 Spanish projects have received more than US$1 billion in investment from 29 different Chinese companies.

The presentation of the report in Beijing featured the participation of Josep Franch in his first public appearance as Dean of ESADE Business School, as well as Wu Changqi, Professor at the Guanghua School of Management; Ivana Casaburi, Director of ESADE’s China Europe Club; and Sònia Recasens, Second Deputy Mayor of Barcelona for the Economy, Business and Employment. In his remarks, Prof. Franch declared: "Europe and China need to ramp up their relations. Asia, and China in particular, will be one of my top priorities as the new Dean of ESADE."

Growth in the coming years

China’s investment in Europe has taken place through acquisitions of various sizes (including, for example, Geely’s purchase of the Swedish automaker Volvo) combined with more than 700 greenfield investments. These projects include the opening of new bank offices by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Bank of China, as well as the construction of solar energy plants (by Suntech Power, for example), logistics infrastructure (by Hutchinson and Cosco, for example), and R&D centres (by ZTE and Huawei, among others).

Despite the impressive figures, direct Chinese investment accounts for just 0.67% of the total investment received by the EU. The potential for growth in the coming years is therefore significant. Chinese companies tend to base their growth models on the transmission of technology and management techniques from other countries. Europe’s main appeal to Chinese investors lies in its macroeconomic, political and institutional stability, the quality of its infrastructure, and the continent’s various other opportunities and advantages.

Link: Chinese Investment in Europe 2014