China crackdown hasn’t ended its foreign buying spree

HONG KONG (Aug 16): China’s government has sent shudders through investors and executives this year by cracking down on the nation’s biggest corporates and their record foreign shopping spree.

Regulators worried the acquisitions would destabilize China’s financial system, weaken the currency and create yet more debt, repeating Japan’s mistakes of its go-go years.

But even as Beijing pulls the shutters down, foreign investment that bolsters the potential of the economy continue to win approval. One example: China Merchants Port Holdings Co. plans to invest as much as US$1.12 billion ($1.5 billion) to develop and operate port facilities in Sri Lanka.  

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