Last year, Chinese investments in Europe and United States reached 94 billion of dollars. In particular, compared to 2015, the growth was of 130 % mainly due to great acquisitions took place in United States, where Chinese invested about 48 billions of dollars.

Italy is one of European country that has attracted some of the biggest Chinese investors. This would be mainly due to the choice of the Italian government to open doors to Chinese investment also in strategic sectors, as for example gas and electricity. This choice is discussed because admitting them to these sectors, China will obtain the possibility to influence indirectly European process on the important decisions. Instead, France and United Kingdom in the last year tried to slow Chinese investments in strategic sectors in order to protect and guarantee their own companies development.

Since 2000, although the last year’s braking, the European country where Chinese most invested money is Great Britain with an amount of about 25 billion of dollars. The second favourite country by Chinese investors is Germany with 20 billion, while immediately after we find Italy, in which they invested about 14 billion of dollars until today.

Furthermore, in the new millennium Chinese investments in Europe were much higher than European investments in China. The difference is mainly due to the lack of reciprocity in the relationship between UE and China. In fact, China placed access barriers to internal market, in order to permit a rapid growth to local companies, opposing with most of European countries’ behaviour that sympathize for foreign investments on its own territory.

Although in the last years China strongly focused on investments in Europe and United States, it is believed that data will decrease in 2017. According to what experts on international market argued, it will be due to on the one hand by the Chinese government’s willingness to tighten administrative controls in some acquisition transactions, and on the other hand, maybe even more decisively, for the uncertainty of political environment, which could dissuade investors from undertake commercial or financial initiatives.