Readers of this blog know my appreciation for interesting maps. And — lucky for me — Foreign Policy has just published a really nice one tracking China’s resource spending spree over the past few years as part of its July/August issue. After watching the China Investment Corporation’s mad resource rush over the past few years, it’s very useful to have some of this data mapped out.
Of particular note is the sheer scale of resource investing. This map shows that the Chinese government has made $350 billion in resource investments around the world over the past four years alone. That’s remarkable. Anyway, here is the description by FP and the map:
“China isn’t just investing in minerals, oil, and other raw goods — it’s buying diplomatic favors and loyalty, too. Chinese investment by region, 2005-2009, in billions of dollars:”
It may be the case that the political is now beginning to dominate the economic/resource security rationales for such investment. Certainly the pace of Chinese government/SWF resource investment has declined substantially since mid-2009, as has the average size of such investments. Spokespeople for the investing bodies have also spent a lot of effort commenting on the increased price and poorer outlook for such investments. It may be the case that smaller scale (ie USD5-20bn) investments directed to emerging nations will become the norm, especially where China can cement strategic ties by such agreements. Bad luck for Canada and Australia, perhaps, but African, South American and Asian resource firms can likely rely on continued interest from China.
Interesting stuff, Mike. Thanks for the comment.