China's capital controls trigger backlash

Shanghai

CHINESE corporate chiefs are turning vocal critics of the nation's capital controls as the pile of scrapped deals grows. While the restrictions have helped alleviate pressure on the yuan, they have also curbed overseas acquisitions.

Executives in Beijing during the National People's Congress (NPC) bemoaned the measures, saying they're derailing expansion abroad - a key tenet of China's long-term economic ambitions.

"It's almost impossible to use the yuan to invest in overseas projects," Zhang Yichen, chairman and chief executive officer of investment firm Citic Capital Holdings, told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of China's political advisory body that runs concurrent to …