Since 2016, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. has plunged by 90 percent. That includes things like tech, agriculture and real estate-all drivers in the region's economy. But that dip isn't being felt in our region, yet.
Xean Cook is a research analyst with the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm that focuses on economic trends between China and the U.S.
The plunge could partly be because of China's decision to restrict the flow of investment funds into the U.S. back in 2016. He said friction under the Trump administration didn't help.
"After that we started seeing decline in foreign direct investment to the U.S.," he said. "And it really plummeted in the time between 2017 and 2018. In the year 2018, it really dropped to lows we haven't seen in a while."
Cook said Chinese foreign direct investment has historically been on the lower side in our region, especially compared to Silicon Valley and the New York real estate market. Still, he said the mountain west is not out of the woods, since there's been a drop in the kind of investments that boost job creation across the country and that could end up impacting job numbers here as well.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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