According to a study, China's investments in Europe were significantly lower in the past year than in previous years.
According to the study jointly presented on Wednesday by the Berlin China Institute Merics and the Rhodium Group, Chinese direct investments in the EU and Great Britain fell by 45 percent year-on-year to just 6.5 billion euros.
It is therefore the lowest level in ten years.
Germany, France and Great Britain are still the main destinations for Chinese direct investment in Europe.
Germany is at the top.
The UK, in third place, saw direct investment from China drop by 77 percent.
Poland, promoted by a major acquisition, was a major new recipient last year.
The decline has several reasons
According to the study, the trend is likely to continue in the current year: Chinese investments continued to decline in the first quarter.
Europe remains an attractive investment location, but the ongoing disruption from the pandemic, high barriers to capital outflows from China and major regulatory obstacles in Europe are further contributing to Chinese investment moving at a lower level.
Several EU countries, including Italy, France, Poland and Hungary, tightened their review mechanisms for direct investment from third countries last year, which meant that some Chinese takeovers did not materialize. The strained and deteriorating relations between the EU and China could bring additional headwinds for Chinese investors in the future, Merics said on the occasion of the publication of the study.