The dark side of China's overseas investment

Weighing up all the factors at work, China's domestic economy will most likely be OK in 2015. There will be some areas, like Internet-based small enterprises, that will probably see great progress. But there will be a dark side. And that will be about the money.

It is not that Chinese companies are short of working capital or investment. The country is right now one of the few economies with an abundance of money. The government has allowed small private lenders to spring up like mushrooms. It is much easier for competitive businesses to be approached by private equity and venture capital fund managers, from Beijing and Shanghai to Shenzhen.

It is not that the securities market will collapse. The Chinese market may be more volatile than anywhere else. But if, as Premier Li Keqiang said last week, the country is still to create more than 10 million off-farm jobs, then its overall growth rate can't be allowed to drop by much, and at least some of the listed companies will be government-led investment projects.