China’s investment in Australia plunged to a record low of A$1 billion ($775 million) last year, according to data compiled by The Australian National University, as relations between the two countries soured amid the pandemic.
Investment by Chinese companies Down Under fell 61% in 2020, following a 47% fall in the prior year. This was the lowest level of activity in the six-year history of the data that’s part of the ANU’s Chinese Investment in Australia Database. The number of projects recorded was only 20, well down from a peak of 111 in 2016 when investment amounted to A$16.5 billion.
Relations between the two nations deteriorated last year after Prime Minister Scott Morrison led calls for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus and saw China hit products from barley to wine to lobsters with tariffs, anti-dumping probes or delays at port. Separately, Australia tightened investment-screening arrangements with foreign powers.
The dip “reflects the effects of Covid but also more scrutiny of foreign investment by the Australian government, particularly that from China,” said Shiro Armstrong, Director of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research at the ANU in a release Monday.
Laws passed in December give Australia’s foreign minister the power to stop signed agreements between overseas governments and Australia’s eight states and territories, and with local authorities and universities.
Armstrong said that 86% of the investment in 2020 was from Chinese companies already established in Australia and was limited to the real estate, mining and manufacturing sectors.
“In 2020, the year of Covid-19, foreign direct investment fell globally by 42% according to the United Nations,” said Armstrong, noting the UN data are measured differently to the CHIIA dataset. The UN data recorded total foreign direct investment to Australia fell 46% last year.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
