OUTBOUND INVESTMENT REACHES RECORD NUMBERS

Outbound investment activity in the PRC last year has awed speculators as the volume of total mainland investment abroad has reached a record high of US$31.5 billion by mid-December, which is seven times more than that in 2003 when the total volume was only US$3.77 billion.

Looking ahead to 2008, Richard Sun, partner of PriceWaterHouseCoopers said the trend for mainland acquisition abroad will continue as the country's huge amount of US dollar reserves significantly encourages the government to diversify investments.