The UK and the US themselves are trying to wrap their head around the influence of any China tech investment in their countries, driven by billions of dollars in strategic loans, acquisitions, and tech-linked investments, as Beijing implements strategies to hold a tighter grip over global innovations.
The scrutiny around the China tech influence follows an BBC Panorama investigation and new research from AidData that discovered how Chinese state-backed entities have spent decades quietly financing Western infrastructure, buying into tech firms, and providing credit to companies at the cutting edge of AI, chips, robotics, and defense adjacent sectors.
Beijing is raising the bar in its China foreign direct investment influence all while quietly investing in UK and US companies, grant it default access to sensitive technologies in powerful crucial industries in its rise to global dominance.
According to AidData, between 2000 and 2023, Chinese tech investor sentiment backed 2,500 American projects, worth more than $200 billion. In parallel, BBC Panorama reported that China has emptied $59 billion (£45 billion) into the UK since the early 2000s.
China Tech Strategy on American and British Soil
Chinese investment in UK tech sectors became a key target following Beijing’s launch of its “Made in China 2025” initiative – a blueprint for dominance in aerospace, robotics, and electric vehicles (EV).
“It’s the long-term strategic thinking that China has always had,” said Professor Keyu Jin on Beijing’s ability to plan decades ahead.
One case of colossal China infrastructure investment highlighted by the BBC involved Imagination Technologies, a British semiconductor designer acquired in 2017 by Canyon Bridge, whose sole investor was Yitai Capital closely tied to China Reform – an entity reporting to China’s State Council.
Former Imagination Technologies CEO, Ron Black, reminded BBC Panorama of being pressured to shift technology to China, saying, “I think [the China Reform representative] said specifically ‘from the heads of the British engineers to the Chinese engineers, then lay off the British engineers and you’ll make a lot of money.”
Black feared that the company’s chip designs were commercially developed, but militarily adaptable, which could be modified for new drones or missile systems’ use. Even though the UK later intervened to end restricting Chinese tech investment and the takeover attempt, the former CEO said the tech was eventually transferred anyway.
Across the Atlantic, Chinese banks provided credit to US giants including Amazon, Tesla, Boeing, and Qualcomm, according to AidData.
Bradley Parks, the lab’s director, said the findings showed an “unexpected and counterintuitive” reality, where “Washington has been warning other countries about debt exposure to China, [but] there’s quite a lot of inbound lending from Chinese state-owned creditors to borrowers in the US”
Some loans supported genuine China EU tech investment operations to endorse businesses, but others helped Chinese companies buy US companies involved in three things: computer chips, DNA analysis, and advanced robotics.
“We’ve got your back. Here’s our credit card. Go on a spending spree,” Parks said, describing Beijing’s message to its companies.
China Lending Strategy Leads with Geopolitical, Cyber Tensions
The White House has separately accused Alibaba of aiding the People’s Liberation Army, claiming it was providing access to customer data and AI-related services. In response, the Chinese giant called the allegations “complete nonsense,” hinting it was a mere tactic by Washington to hinder any China tech investment in the US.
US intelligence agencies warned that China can, and is willing to, compromise American operations to facilitate its own tech infrastructure Chinese investment, pointing to the infamous Salt Typhoon cyber campaign as evidence of the “breadth and depth” of Chinese cyber capabilities.
Meanwhile, China’s tech sector faces turbulence at home.
Another Chinese giant, Xiaomi – once a market darling – has become the worst performing Chinese tech stock in months, dragged down by slowing smartphone demand, chip costs, and EV expansion concerns.
“There are concerns that auto delivery and thus revenue might not be as great as some investors might have hoped for,” said fund manager at Aberdeen Investments, Xin-Yao Ng.
Yet even with domestic struggles, Beijing’s global influence campaign shows no sign of slowing. AidData found that since 2000, China has provided $2.2 trillion in loans and grants worldwide, twice what the US contributed last year alone.
“It is focused on cementing its position as the international creditor of first-and-last-resort,” said coauthor Brooke Escobar.
Western governments are still tightening, remaining faithful to their strategy to limit China tech investment screenings. But it remains to be seen on whether economic engagement with any Chinese digital footprint will happen, without surrendering the tech defining the next century.
The ball now lies in Washington and London’s court. And whether they can avoid checkmates with Beijing remains to be seen.
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