Mainland Chinese investors look to Southeast Asia for commercial property as political tensions, interest rates make US, Australia less appealing
- Indonesia is now the top destination for Chinese investment in the sector, with Malaysia in third place and Thailand in fifth, according to Juwai IQI
- ‘Their rapidly growing economies provide opportunities in developable land, tourism facilities, industrial and logistics facilities,’ report says
By contrast, the US, which was the preferred investment destination last year, failed to make the top five at all, while Australia dropped to fourth place from second in 2022.
“Investors consider Southeast Asia an appealing destination because commercial ties between China and these countries are growing, while they are shrinking with the US,” the report said. “Their rapidly growing economies provide opportunities in developable land, tourism facilities, industrial parks and industrial and logistics facilities.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast in April that the three Southeast Asian economies will grow this year by between 3.4 per cent and 5 per cent.
Both the US and Australia are tipped to grow by a mere 1.6 per cent this year, the IMF said.
