China vs United Kingdom: Foreign direct investment, net inflows

China

79.98 billion BoP, current US$

in 2025

United Kingdom

76.63 billion BoP, current US$

in 2025

China rank

5th

United Kingdom rank

7th

Foreign direct investment, net inflows over time

China
United Kingdom

How they compare

China currently reports 79.98 billion BoP, current US$ against 76.63 billion BoP, current US$ in United Kingdom, a difference of 3.35 billion BoP, current US$.

The two have swapped places 9 times across 47 shared years of data; in 1979 it was United Kingdom ahead.

Globally, China ranks 5th and United Kingdom ranks 7th of 201 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$)
Unit: BoP, current US$
Source: Balance of Payments database, International Monetary Fund (IMF), note: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments database, supplemented by data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and D
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 248 places, 12,232 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Foreign direct investment refers to direct investment equity flows in the reporting economy. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and other capital. Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that is resident in another economy. Ownership of 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares of voting stock is the criterion for determining the existence of a direct investment relationship. Data are in current U.S. dollars.