Chinese investments in European companies doubled in the second quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2011.

The data come from A Capital, a Euro-Asia growth capital investor that is tracking outbound Chinese investments. 

Europe attracted 95 per cent of all outbound deals excluding natural resources, according to the firm. “This is good news in the current euro crisis, and confirms a trend already identified in February 2012. It demonstrates the pressing need, in the context of a relative slowdown in China, for Chinese firms to move up the value chain, and the complementarity of European and Chinese economic structures,” said Andre Loesekrug-Pietri, founder and managing partner of A Capital. 

The amount invested by Chinese companies in the second quarter of the year hit a record high of $24bn (€18.6bn), up from $21.4bn in the first quarter. 

State-owned enterprises accounted for 90 per cent of all deal activity, of which 70 per cent were minority investments. 

Picture: Source