China investment returns to Asean amid trade war

CHINESE investment is flowing into Asean once more, as projects under the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) see a recovery and ongoing trade tensions with the United States are prompting Chinese companies to invest in parts of South-east Asia, Maybank Kim Eng noted in a report.

China's investments and construction contracts in Asean rebounded to US$11 billion for the first six months of 2019, double the amount in the six months prior, according to Maybank KE data.

For the whole of 2018, investments hit US$22.4 billion, down from the peak of US$38.2 billion seen in 2017.