China Passes U.S. As No. 1 Destination For Foreign Investment As Coronavirus Upends Global Economy

China Passes U.S. As No. 1 Destination For Foreign Investment As Coronavirus Upends Global Economy

Topline

As the world struggled to contain the coronavirus crisis, foreign direct investment in the United States plummeted 49% in 2020 while investment in China rose 4%, making China the largest recipient of foreign inflows for the first time, according to a report released Sunday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 

The operation area of Nantong Port in east China's Jiangsu Province.



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Key Facts





China pulled in $163 billion in new investments from foreign businesses in 2020 while the U.S. fell into second place with $134 billion. 





The U.S. and China had broadly different responses to the pandemic, with China's government instituting strict, large-scale lockdown measures in early 2020 while the United States' response was far less centralized and far less effective in curbing the spread of the virus. 







That prompted a major shift in the global economy—while the United States and other Western countries struggled to contain the pandemic, China went back to work, manufacturing picked up, and as a result China was the