China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) slumped 30.1% in March from a year earlier as authorities kept a tight grip on capital outflows to help support the yuan and safeguard the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Non-financial ODI totaled USD7.11 billion last month, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). For the first three months of this year, non-financial ODI tumbled 48.8% to USD20.54 billion from the same period last year. Outbound investment in countries involved in China’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure initiative was USD2.95 billion in the first quarter, or 14.4% of the total. Non-financial ODI tumbled 52.8% in January-February from the same period last year, with amounts in the property and entertainment sectors down more than 80%. Many Chinese firms are unable to close deals because they cannot secure official permission to transfer yuan into foreign exchange. While Beijing says it supports legitimate overseas investment, regulators have warned they would pay close attention to “irrational” investments in property, entertainment, sports and other sectors, China’s non-financial outbound investments rose from USD5.5 billion in 2004 to a new high of USD170.11 billion in 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This figure is expected to continue growing in the coming years despite the country’s recent capital controls, consultancy EY said. Earlier data showed foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose 1% to CNY226.51 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier, the South China Morning Post reports.

Premier Li Keqiang called for greater balance in foreign trade not only through promoting exports but also importing more high-quality goods. Li spoke at the start of a two-day visit to Weihai, a port city in Shandong province. “As a major trading country in goods, China wants a balanced foreign trade instead of intentionally pursuing a trade surplus,” he said. The year’s first three months saw trade in goods increase by 21.8% to CNY6.2 trillion year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs. Local officials reported to Li that Weihai’s exports in the first quarter far exceeded imports. Shandong’s imports and exports exceeded CNY419 billion last year, an increase of 28.9% year-on-year, the highest among the nation’s coastal provinces. In the first quarter, Weihai’s exports of food and agricultural goods grew quickly. Exports of vegetables and related products increased by 37.8% during the first three months, compared with the same period in 2016. Besides the Port of Weihai, Premier Li also visited Sunjiatong Hospital; the Dishang Group, a clothing manufacturer; and the local market regulatory office.

Several financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Nomura Securities, have revised up their prediction of China’s economic growth this year. Zhang Zhiwei, Chief China Economist at Deutsche Bank, raised the forecast for China’s full-year GDP growth rate to 6.7%, saying that he did not see the immediate need for the government to launch a new round of fiscal stimulus. China’s growth beat analysts’ expectations in the first quarter, expanding 6.9% year-on-year. “March industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment all came in above expectations,” said Zhu Haibin, Chief China Economist at JPMorgan. Zhao Yang, Chief China Economist at Nomura Securities, raised his forecast for GDP growth by 0.2 percentage point to 6.7% “We believe the resilient growth in Q1 was supported more by production and investment than other factors, as growth of industrial production and fixed-asset investment (FAI) both accelerated in year-on-year terms in the first quarter,” Zhao said. China’s economy has grown between 6.7% and 7.2% for the past 11 quarters. Some economists also believed that the strong momentum is likely to extend into the second quarter. The robust growth of private consumption has been driving the strong performance of the Chinese economy, Bloomberg reported, citing data from e-commerce platform JD.com, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Chinese economy to grow by 6.6% in 2017, down from 6.7% in 2016. It published to forecast ahead of meetings of the IMF, the World Bank and the Group of 20 major economies last week in Washington. China’s economy grew at a 6.9% annual pace from January to March, the fastest in more than a year.

The total value of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in China’s technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector shrunk by 50% in the first quarter, which could augur badly for deal-making in the industry for the rest of this year, according to Mergermarket. There were 54 China-related TMT deals worth USD8.8 billion recorded in the first three months of this year, down from 60 transactions totaling USD17.5 billion in the same period last year. The top 5 Chinese buyers in the TMT field include GigaDevice Semiconductor, Tianjin Yingrui Huixin Corporate Management, Wolong Real Estate Group, and Sunbird Yacht. “That drop-off in both the number and size of deals in the first quarter is a reflection of China’s more stringent capital control, which has been implemented since late November last year,” said Mergermarket Financial Researcher Sophie Jin. “There is a probability that China-related technology, media and telecoms deals in 2017 would see their lowest level in years.” Jin added, however, that transactions involving the semiconductor industry may be less impacted by the government’s capital controls since expansion initiatives in this field form part of the country’s national development strategy.

Shanghai-based food conglomerate Bright Food Group Co has confirmed it will sell the majority of its stake in UK brand Weetabix to U.S. cereal company PostHoldings. The sale is projected to be worth USD1.76 billion. Bright Food will remain as a stakeholder in the brand and continue to help it expand in the Chinese market, according to the company. “The move will help Bright Food better leverage its financial and human resources for its globalization strategy,” said Pan Jianjun, Spokesman for the state-owned conglomerate, which has made several acquisitions globally in recent years. Bright Food acquired a 60% stake in private equity firm Lion Capital in 2012 for GBP1.2 billion, making it the largest overseas deal made by a Chinese company in the food and beverage sector worldwide at the time. Weetabix’s overall sales declined by 1.6% to GBP346 million by the end of 2015. The UK market accounted for more than 80% of its sales. Pan denied that the sale was due to the stagnant performance of the brand, adding that China has become the third-largest market for Weetabix in the five years since the acquisition. Statistics from Nielsen showed that sales of ready-to-eat cereals dropped at a combined annual growth rate of 1.5% from 2009 to 2014, while sales of overall breakfast foods are growing. Among Chinese consumers aged from 20 to 49 and interviewed by the consultancy in 2016, 67% opted for Chinese traditional breakfast foods like noodles or dumplings instead of Western foods, the China Daily reports.