ISSUE BRIEF
No. 5348 | MARCH 19, 2024
ASIAN STUDIES CENTER
This paper, in its entirety, can be found at https://report.heritage.org/ib5348
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The Truth About Investment in China
Bryan Burack
Over the past decade, $2 trillion–$3 tril-
lion or more of U.S. investment has flowed
into China with virtually no transpar-
ency and oversight.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
To meet national security threats, notifica-
tions and prohibitions should be required
for investments involving dual-use tech-
nology with military applications.
Yet some politicians continue to rely on
myths to argue that American investment
in China’s military–industrial complex
should remain unrestricted and opaque.
O
ver the past decade, as much as $2 trillion–$3
trillion or more of U.S. investment—much
of it supporting China’s growing military
capabilities—has flowed into China with virtually
no transparency and oversight.
1
In August 2023,
President Joe Biden issued an executive order that
eventually will begin to address this threat,
2
but
congressional action to strengthen the Biden Admin-
istration’s half-measures remains essential.
Nevertheless, some politicians continue to block
bipartisan legislation that would scrutinize and ideally
prohibit dangerous investments in China, relying on
myths to argue that American investment in China’s
military–industrial complex should remain unrestricted
and opaque. This Issue Brief examines those myths and
provides the truth about the eects of this investment
on America’s economy and national security.
