Chinese investments in California increases employment

World Today

Thousands of employees in the U.S. could suffer if Chinese investments here are blocked – that is the warning from the Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group. Nearly $16 billion of Chinese cash was injected into the U.S. last year alone – and California, in particular, is doing incredibly well out of them.

CCTV’s Phil Lavelle reports the story.

Virgil Chis, technical foreman from Karma Automotive, couldn’t be busier and he’s grateful. Because a few years back, things were very different.

“For the first time in my life, I experienced being laid off, going home and telling my wife “this is it,” said Virgil.

The electric car maker he worked at in Southern California shut down and he was out of a job.

“When it closed, it was depressing,” said Virgil.

Until a Chinese investor bought it, rebranded it, and gave it that new jolt of power. Karma is an all-American company saved by Chinese cash – literally bringing people into work, says the boss.

Of course, the other side of this argument.

“We’re not making anything anymore. Our product is pouring in from China,” President-elect Donald Trump said at presidential Debate.

But that ‘pouring in’ as the now President-Elect puts it, and indeed, pouring out which is stuff going the other way, is having a major beneficial impact here in California.

LA’s port has never been busier. This is the country’s largest port and more than half of those containers come from China. Six out of ten arriving here, left from there. And last year, more than 32,000 staff were involved in processing and transporting them sweeping people in work, people who then pay taxes and keep that economic circle spinning..

The fact is that Chinese cash is pouring into the U.S. And California, in particular, is benefiting.. the city’s skylines, shopping malls, massive homes, the movie industry – all targets.

In fact, last year, Chinese investors injected a record $15.7 billion into U.S. companies. And California got 21% of that. That’s more than a fifth – to just ONE state. China’s trade with LA alone, nearly 27% of the total trade with the U.S.