U.S.Business Leaders Confident About China’s Economy

Both the private sector and international fi nancial institutions in the United States are optimistic about the Chinese economy， which is manifested in their actions and words.

U.S. venture capitalists increased th eir investment in Chinese startups last year， with the venture capital （VC） fl ows between the United States and China hitting an estimated $22 billion， according to a report released on May 8 by the U.S.-China Investment Project， led by the Rhodium Group and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations （NCUSCR）.

The increase in VC investments was mostly driven by U.S.-owned firms， which poured a record $19 billion into Chinese startups， roughly doubling the previous record of $9.4 billion in 2017， the report said.

“The high volume of flows in 2018 sends a clear signal that the commercial appetite for crossborder investment between our countries remains strong，” NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins wrote in a foreword to the report.

“In China， American investors continued to utilize minority VC investments in 2018 to gain exposure to sectors，” including digital payments， Internet startups and other digital content， the report continued.

As far as U.S. foreign direct investment in China is concerned， the report said researchers have a “positive” near-term outlook.

“It should be noted that portfolio investment provides a new bright spot in the twoway investment relationship，” Orlins said.

Charlie Munger， Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.， said in an interview that he is“quite optimistic” about the Chinese economy.

Munger told Yahoo Finance that China has been “succeeding for a long time，”adding it has “one of the greatest success records in the history of mankind，” and what China has achieved economically is beyond his predictions.

“In the whole history of the world， no nation that big has ever advanced that fast，”Munger said.

Warren Buffett， CEO of the U.S. multinational conglomerate， warned in an earlier interview with Yahoo Finance， “We just have to make sure that competition doesnt get us to a point where we dont realize that the best world is one in which both the United States and China prosper.”

Asked whether Berkshire Hathaway would “ever make a big acquisition in China，”Buffett said， “The answer is we would.”

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency in April， Gita Gopinath， chief economist of the International Monetary Fund（IMF）， praised what the Chinese Government has been doing to shift from high-speed to high-quality growth， noting that such a pivot will require moving away from credit-driven， investment-driven growth toward more consumption-driven growth.

She also highlighted the fact that China has used a combination of monetary policy tools and fi scal stimulus in its efforts.

The interview with Gopinath was conducted on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank， during which the IMF released its new World Economic Outlook report， which revised up the 2019 growth projection for China to 6.3 percent， up 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimate in January.