A leading Beijing think tank has lowered the ranking positions of Australia and the United States as destinations for Chinese outbound investment, in its latest assessment of 114 countries, underscoring the risk to investors amid deteriorating relations with the two countries.
The government-supported Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Thursday slashed its ranking of Australia – an investment darling in previous lists – by 12 places to No 15, just days after the first anniversary of their ongoing trade conflict that started with Australia calling for an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus without first consulting China.