Riding the rising wave of investing overseas, Macrolink Group, a leading private enterprise in China, is expected to invest as much as 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) in the next three years to tap the tourism and mineral resources abroad.

Fu Jun, chairman of the board of Macrolink and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that the 20 billion yuan investment will be used for three overseas projects between 2015 and 2017.

"Two projects are tourism-related and the other one is a mineral resources project," Fu said on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.

Fu's Beijing-headquartered Macrolink Group is engaged in various industries from real estate, oil and mineral resources to finance through a collection of subsidiaries. Macrolink Group claimed to have revenues of nearly 57 billion yuan in 2014.

With an increasing number of Chinese outbound travelers, Fu said it is very promising to invest in tourism real estate overseas.

The number of outbound tourist departures from the mainland exceeded 100 million in a calendar year for the first time in November 2014, according to the China National Tourism Administration. Nearly 90 percent of the departures were to the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions and some Asian countries.

In January 2014, the A-share listed Macrolink signed an agreement with South Korea's Black Stone Resort to jointly spend about 200 million yuan on a joint venture on Cheju Island. The latter owns several gambling licenses issued by the South Korean government.

Fu said construction of the project on Cheju Island is expected to kick off within this year. "The project will include hotels, restaurants and shopping malls to cater to the needs of the wealthy Chinese," he said.

Fu said the window for Chinese private enterprises that want to invest overseas is open.

"The timing is perfect. Because of the flagging global economy, foreign countries, especially those in Europe, need investment to boost growth. Moreover, with the growth of China's economy, an increasing number of private enterprises in the country are financially capable of investing overseas," he said.

According to him, investing overseas offers private enterprises in China great opportunities to gain market access, technology and skills as well as acquire well-known Western brands.

China's non-financial outbound direct investment totaled $102.8 billion in 2014, with 40 percent of the investment made by private enterprises, according to data provided by the Ministry of Commerce.

Fang Aiqing, vice-minister of commerce, said on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions on Saturday that ODI made by private enterprises in the developed coastal regions in China exceeded 50 percent in 2014.

"I believe we are going to see more outbound investment from private enterprises in the near future," he said.

Despite the rising trend, challenges for private companies to go global remain unsolved with financing difficulties being the top concern. "It is difficult for private companies in China to get loans from banks and there is also the challenge of finding enough qualified professionals from China to expand in the overseas markets," said Fu.

mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 03/12/2015 page16)