Chinese foreign direct investment has long been characterized as focusing on securing raw materials in emerging markets like Africa and Latin America.

FORBES: 13 Chinese Companies Going Global In 2013

Chinese foreign direct investment flows into the African continent will grow.

BBC: Viewpoint: China and the world

Maximizing the Benefits of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment.

FORBES: China's Direct Investment in the U.S. Doubled in 2010

More broadly, direct Chinese investment on U.S. shores may help improve the countries' fraught trade relationship, in the same way that a wave of Japanese auto plants did here in the 1980s and 1990s.

WSJ: The Game: A GM Unit in China's Hands

When it comes to foreign direct investment (FDI) and the Chinese, Europe is seen as more friendly.

FORBES: For Chinese Companies, Europe More Welcoming Than America

Direct investment by U.S. companies in China, Chinese exports to the U.S. and Chinese purchases of U.S. Treasury securities are all well off their peak growth rates.

WSJ: Thilo Hanemann and Dan Rosen: Chinese Investment 2.0