Chinese outward foreign direct investments to Europe

This paper addresses Chinese outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) in Europe. We aim to provide more knowledge on the ongoing research discussion about Chinese OFDI, more specifically, we answer questions about what is driving Chinese firms to invest in Europe, and whether Chinese investment behaviour in Europe differs compared with their investments in other parts of the world. For our empirical study we use data from the 2012 statistical bulletin of Chinese OFDI, 20032012. Our results indicate that European countries generally receive lower levels of investment from Chinese firms compared with other regions of the world. We find, furthermore, that the main motives for Chinese investment in Europe are market seeking and strategic asset seeking, and that there are large differences among European countries in attracting Chinese investments.