CHINESE mainland-based investors including banks, insurers, developers and sovereign wealth funds invested a record US$21.37 billion in outbound commercial real estate last year, a surge of 41.5 percent from 2014, a report said yesterday.
The Asia-Pacific region attracted the biggest amount of Chinese mainland capital, or US$8.1 billion, a nearly threefold increase compared with 2014, said the report released by international commercial real estate services provider DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield.
The United States continued to be a magnet for capital flows from China, drawing around US$4.37 billion from Chinese mainland investors in 2015. Hong Kong and Australia, driven by Sydney and Melbourne, followed closely behind in the ranking of global destinations, the report said.
“The US is still viewed as the safest of safe havens,” said Justina Fan, DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield’s head of outbound investment in China. “The combination of a strong dollar and weakening yuan boosted the appeal of the US for Chinese investors in the midst of economic headwinds and financial market volatility at home.”
Office space remained the most popular type of asset class, taking up 40 percent of total outbound capital in 2015. Development sites drew a sizeable 33 percent of investment volume, up from 26 percent in 2014.
