"I don't think what we are doing at CFIU.S. should be construed in any way as a deterrent to foreign investment here," he said.
China also promised at the S&ED that it will soon present the U.S. with a new negative list for a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), but many experts believe that a BIT is highly unlikely under the remaining months of the Obama administration, given that it is trying to make a last-ditch effort to press Congress to ratify the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries.
At a Tuesday meeting on Asia-Pacific economic integration at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, most people didn't believe the TPP would be ratified by the U.S. Congress during the lame-duck session.
Selig emphasized the U.S. was committed to aBIT with China. "We are awaiting China's next negative list. We are hopeful that it is ambitious. And if it is ambitious, I think we actually have a pathway to making a tremendous amount of progress on that BIT in this administration," he said.
Chinese FDI in the U.S. grew to more than $15 billion in 2015, setting a record high, according to an updated New Neighbors report released in April by the Rhodium Group and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
The number of Chinese affiliated companies in the U.S. exceeded 1,900 by the end of 2015, extending across more than 80 percent of congressional districts, or 362 of 435. The number of Americans employed by these Chinese affiliated companies rose by 12 percent in 2015 to 90,000.
The report predicted that with more than $30 billion already in pending deals and projects, 2016 is likely to be another record year for Chinese FDI in the U.S..
The report cautioned that U.S. regulators and lawmakers have a responsibility to guarantee that legitimate concerns about Chinese FDI are addressed. "At the same time, they also need to ensure that political rhetoric and politicization do not needlessly impede job creation, investment inflows, particularly in an election year," the report said.
