Chinese Foreign Direct Investment In Italy ：Regional and Industry Distribution and Financial Performance

As time progresses, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from various countries is positively impacting the rapid development of the global economy. This thesis first introduces what FDI is, various theories of FDI, and the impact of FDI on the global economy. It then focuses on the changes in Chinese outward FDI policy and how Chinese FDI in Italy is evolving. We use data from AIDA database to retrieve Chinese ownership in firms located in Italy. We then analyse the regional and industrial distribution of Chinese firms in Italy and we compare with firms under other countries ownership (France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom) as well as firms with Italian ownership. Chinese firms appear to be concentrated both in geographical and industry terms. We also analyse the financial characteristics of Chinese owned firms to find that their financial structure is quite peculiar as they appear to be overall much more indebted but specifically much less indebted with banks than other firms. This thesis provides a thorough and updated map of Chinese ownership among firms located in Italy thereby providing a novel picture useful for researchers and policy makers.