Financing Remains Major Difficulty for Chinese Companies' Outbound Investment

Difficulty in accessing finance remains the biggest problem for Chinese companies investing overseas, China's trade promotion body said Tuesday.

In a report on Chinese enterprises' external investment released Tuesday, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) said overseas consumers' limited knowledge of Chinese brands and concerns about the quality of Chinese-made products are also challenges for Chinese companies' outbound investment.

Based on the survey of more than 1,000 Chinese companies, CCPIT said nearly three quarters of enterprises were not optimistic about overseas investment because of the global financial crisis and won't make large overseas investments in the next 12 months.

Manufacturing was the most popular industry for Chinese overseas investment, the report said.

Geographically, the United States was the most popular destination for Chinese outbound investment. Africa is also emerging as a popular destination, the CCPIT report said.

China's outbound direct investment to the non-financial sector rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier to 43.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2009.