China pledges to carry on investing globally, even as wealthy nations shun its money

China will ensure steady outbound investment flows even as countries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific enact restrictions on what Chinese investors can buy in their countries, the government said Friday.

The US has singled out China’s overseas investment in its trade war complaints, arguing China has used overseas investments to acquire critical technologies. In recent months, Germany, France, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Canada have all joined an unprecedented global backlash against Chinese investment, citing national security concerns.

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Speaking at a press conference about a report on China’s outbound investment for 2017, Zhang Xingfu, deputy director general of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, acknowledged increasing scrutiny of Chinese investments, but warned against government overreach.

“We have noted that the practise of strengthening the security review of foreign investment is likely to cause concerns among global investors over a country’s investment environment, especially over the abuse of security reviews,” said Zhang, without naming any specific country or deal.

However, Zhang said China would press on with its “going global” strategy.

“The rapid development of China’s foreign investment is an inevitable outcome of China’s economic development reaching a certain stage,” said Zhang, adding that investing abroad is also an important manifestation of China’s pursuit of high-quality development of its domestic economy.