Markets
Which States Get the Most Chinese Investment?
Which States Get the Most Chinese Investment?
Part of being a global superpower is having some money to throw around.
Want to fund a giant 80 million person megacity in the Pearl River Delta for $322 billion? Piece of cake.
Re-build the Silk Road for up to $1 trillion? Not an issue.
But China doesn’t only show off its deep pockets domestically. The country has also been extremely active on the global market, buying up everything from natural resources in Africa to luxurious real estate in Manhattan. In total, Chinese companies have spent over $1 trillion on overseas investment over the last decade, and this has only accelerated in recent years as investors seek to acquire safe haven assets abroad.
America First?
Today’s infographic comes from SCMP, and it shows where Chinese overseas investment has been going, with a particular focus on the United States between 2000 and 2016.
Cumulatively, China has put $109.5 billion into the U.S. during this time period, with about 70% of that money coming from private companies. The sectors that have received the most Chinese investment so far include real estate and hospitality ($29.5 billion), information technology ($14.2 billion), energy ($13.4 billion), and entertainment ($8.8 billion).
According to Forbes, here were the five biggest investments made in the U.S. in 2016:
1. HNA Tourism Group gets 25% stake in Hilton for $6.5 billion
This deal helps Chinese conglomerate HNA and Hilton to take advantage of China’s growing tourism market both in China and internationally.
2. Tianjin Tianhai buys Ingram Micro for $6.1 billion
This is the biggest purchase of an American information technology company by a Chinese firm so far. Ingram Micro is the world’s largest wholesaler in technology products and services.
3. Haier Group buys GE’s appliance business for $5.6 billion
Haier is a massive consumer electronics and appliances company in China, with roughly $30 billion of revenue per year. However, the company has yet to make inroads in the North American market. This made buying GE’s appliances division a very strategic opportunity for the company.
4. Anbang Insurance pays $5.5 billion for Strategic Hotels And Resorts
One of China’s largest insurance companies bought 15 luxury properties, including the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C. and the JW Marriot Essex House in New York. The deal was originally valued at $6.5 billion, but one of the hotels was dropped after security concerns were raised due to its proximity to a U.S. naval base in San Diego. That property is worth approximately $1 billion.
5. Dalian Wanda buys Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion
Legendary Entertainment is a Hollywood production company that has the rights to popular films such as The Dark Knight, Inception, Jurassic World and Straight Outta Compton.
Markets
3 Reasons Why AI Enthusiasm Differs from the Dot-Com Bubble
Valuations are much lower than they were during the dot-com bubble, but what else sets the current AI enthusiasm apart?

3 Reasons Why AI Enthusiasm Differs from the Dot-Com Bubble
Artificial intelligence, like the internet during the dot-com bubble, is getting a lot of attention these days. In the second quarter of 2023, 177 S&P 500 companies mentioned “AI” during their earnings call, nearly triple the five-year average.
Not only that, companies that mentioned “AI” saw their stock price rise 13.3% from December 2022 to September 2023, compared to 1.5% for those that didn’t.
In this graphic from New York Life Investments, we look at current market conditions to find out if AI could be the next dot-com bubble.
Comparing the Dot-Com Bubble to Today
In the late 1990s, frenzied optimism for internet-related stocks led to a rapid rise in valuations and an eventual market crash in the early 2000s. By the time the market hit rock bottom, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index had dropped 82% from its peak.
The growing enthusiasm for AI has some concerned that it could be the next dot-com bubble. But here are three reasons that the current environment is different.
1. Valuations Are Lower
Stock valuations are much lower than they were at the peak of the dot-com bubble. For example, the forward price-to-earnings ratio of the Nasdaq 100 is significantly lower than it was in 2000.
Date | Forward P/E Ratio |
---|---|
March 2000 | 60.1x |
November 2023 | 26.4x |
Lower valuations are an indication that investors are putting more emphasis on earnings and stocks are less at risk of being overvalued.
2. Investors Are More Hesitant
During the dot-com bubble, flows to equity funds increased by 76% from 1999 to 2000.
Year | Combined ETF and Mutual Fund Flows to Equity Funds |
---|---|
1997 | $231B |
1998 | $163B |
1999 | $200B |
2000 | $352B |
2001 | $63B |
2002 | $14B |
Source: Investment Company Institute
In contrast, equity fund flows have been negative in 2022 and 2023.
Year | Combined ETF and Mutual Fund Flows to Equity Funds |
---|---|
2021 | $295B |
2022 | -$54B |
2023* | -$137B |
Source: Investment Company Institute
*2023 data is from January to September.
Based on fund flows, investors appear hesitant of stocks, rather than overly exuberant.
3. Companies Are More Established
Leading up to the internet bubble, the number of technology IPOs increased substantially.
Year | Number of Technology IPOs | Median Age |
---|---|---|
1997 | 174 | 8 |
1998 | 113 | 7 |
1999 | 370 | 4 |
2000 | 261 | 5 |
2001 | 24 | 9 |
2002 | 20 | 9 |
Many of these companies were relatively new and, at the peak of the bubble in 2000, only 14% of them were profitable.
In recent years, there have been far fewer tech IPOs as companies wait for more positive market conditions. And those that have gone public, the median age is much higher.
Year | Number of Technology IPOs | Median Age |
---|---|---|
2020 | 48 | 12 |
2021 | 126 | 12 |
2022 | 6 | 15 |
Ultimately, many of the companies benefitting from AI are established companies that are already publicly traded. New, unproven companies are much less common in public markets.
Navigating Modern Tech Amid Dot-Com Bubble Worries
Valuations, equity flows, and the shortage of tech IPOs all suggest that AI is different than the dot-com bubble.
However, risk is still present in the market. For instance, only 33% of tech companies that went public in 2022 were profitable. Investors can help manage their risk by keeping a diversified portfolio rather than choosing individual stocks.

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