China defended its growing global commercial presence as a source of jobs in Africa and the US amid tension over control of resources and Zambia’s arrest of two Chinese managers who shot miners during a pay dispute.
Chinese companies invested US$56.5 billion abroad last year and hired 438,000 workers, many of them in developing countries, Cabinet officials said at a news conference yesterday.
“Chinese investors have brought not only capital and technology, but also job opportunities and tax revenue,” Deputy Minister of Commerce Chen Jian (陳健) said.
Governments in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere have welcomed Chinese investment in mining and other industries, but in some economies, the Chinese presence has sparked tensions over control of oil, gas and other resources and complaints that local communities get too little of the rewards.
Beijing is encouraging Chinese companies, flush with cash from the country’s economic boom, to expand abroad to diversify an economy driven by exports and investment. Investment has largely targeted oil, gas and mining, but is expanding into manufacturing, real estate and other sectors.
In Zambia, two Chinese mine bosses were charged with attempted murder last month after shooting miners during a pay dispute.
Chinese companies have invested nearly US$3 billion in Zambia, a major copper producer, according to the Zambian government.
“Of course we have noticed some improper or bad behavior by some individual companies or people from China, but that is not the mainstream,” Chen said.
Chen made no mention of Zambia or other specific incidents, but said Chinese enterprises in Africa have built 60,000km of roads and 70,000,000m2 of housing since 2000.
Last year’s outbound investment by Chinese companies was up from just US$2.8 billion in 2003, according to Chen Lin (陳林), a Commerce Ministry official at the news conference.
In the US, some proposed Chinese investments in oil and -technology companies have spurred complaints about possible national security risks.
Chinese companies have shifted strategy, buying minority stakes in US assets to reduce possible opposition. In 2005, state-owned Chinese oil company CNOOC withdrew a bid for Unocal after critics said the deal might threaten national security.
Last month, CNOOC agreed to buy a one-third interest in a Texas oil and gas field in a deal worth up to US$2.16 billion that prompted little public comment.
In Australia, proposed Chinese investments in mining companies prompted objections from some lawmakers to what they deemed possible control of national assets by foreign state-owned companies.
Before last month’s CNOOC deal, Chinese companies had invested US$900 million in the US, Chen said. He said state-owned China Ocean Shipping Group helped to preserve 9,000 jobs at the port of Boston by expanding operations there beginning in 2002.
“We also hope the US can further improve the investment environment and attract more Chinese companies so we can further promote our bilateral trade relations,” Chen said.
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