Key Points
- In terms of money moving between the US and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), all the large flows since 2016 have been American investment in Chinese stocks and bonds, the stock of which was $1.18 trillion at the end of 2021.
- The US government has loudly considered policy changes pertaining to outbound investment but has done almost nothing. Worse, the US does not provide basic information about the true levels of outbound investment. This must change for good policy to be possible.
- There are compelling principles that should guide policy changes. One is that, if existing American law restricts Chinese investment in the US to prevent loss of technology, new American law should restrict US investment in the PRC developing that same technology.