China remains prominent at SelectUSA Investment Summit

The Chinese delegation is still one of the largest delegations to the 2018 SelectUSA Investment Summit, Seth Isenberg, senior international investment specialist at SelectUSA in Washington, said at a news conference on Thursday.

The SelectUSA Investment Summit, to be held from June 20 to 22 in Washington, is a program led by the Department of Commerce to attract foreign investment to the US.

This year’s summit has 2,846 registrants, with more than 1,000 foreign firms from 60 markets, according to US Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Gilbert Kaplan.

Eighteen US chiefs of mission, including US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, will attend.

Chinese delegations have comprised the largest group in the SelectUSA Investment Summit in recent years. Chinese investors such as Wang Jianlin, founder of Dalian Wanda Group, has attended previous summits.

Chinese entrepreneurs Jane Liu, vice-president of Shandong Ruyi Group, and Gilbert Lee, chief financial officer of Fuling Global Inc, spoke at last year’s summit.

This year, the number of Chinese delegates has dropped sharply — to about 110 from around 155 in 2017.

That parallels Chinese investment in the US, which fell by 35 percent in 2017, according to The Rhodium Group’s China Investment Monitor.

There are growing regulatory hurdles in the US, such as getting clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which vets foreign deals involving US companies for security purposes.

On June 9, however, Genworth Financial Inc and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co said that CFIUS had completed its review of Oceanwide’s $2.7 billion buyout and found “no unresolved national security concerns” with the proposed deal.

Kaplan said “this summit is about investment in the US, and we are open for investment from any country. And of course, there are some restrictions under CFIUS and other things. Those will be looked at with respect to China and any other investors. But we are open for investment.”

The White House announced on May 29 that the US will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology.

The announcement stated that the proposed investment restrictions and enhanced export controls will be announced by June 30, and they will be implemented shortly thereafter.

That follows the presidential memorandum signed by US President Donald Trump on March 22, the first step in proposing restrictions on investment in the US directed or facilitated by China in industries or technologies deemed important to the US.

The Chinese have responded firmly that they would retaliate.

The US has more than $3.7 trillion in foreign direct investment, the largest share of FDI in the world, according to Kaplan.

This summit is about investment in the US, and we are open for investment from any country.” Gilbert Kaplan, US undersecretary of commerce for international trade