For years, Chinese companies pumped billions of dollars into all kinds of US assets, deepening economic ties between the two countries. According to a new report, that direct investment has dried up, falling to a seven-year low. Karina Huber has more.

In 2014, China's Anbang Insurance bought the Waldorf Astoria in New York for almost two billion dollars. It heralded a buying frenzy of US properties by Chinese companies. Chinese direct investment in the US hit a peak of 46 billion dollars in 2016. A lot of that direct investment has now vaporized. According to Rhodium Group, in the first five months of this year, Chinese FDI to the US totaled just 1.8 billion dollars. That's a drop of more than 90 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

KARINA HUBER NEW YORK "The massive drop in Chinese investment is due in part to the greater hurdles Chinese companies have to jump over to get a deal approved by CFIUS, the government committee that vets international acquisitions of US companies for national security risks."

US President Donald Trump believes the US has gotten a raw deal in trade with China. CFIUS has increased its scrutiny of Chinese investments under his administration. Rhodium Group says CFIUS and other US regulators have derailed eight pending deals worth more than 2 billion dollars this year. They include Ant Financial's bid for Moneygram. But Rhodium Group says CFIUS isn't entirely to blame for the drop. Investment began falling sharply in 2017 after China imposed stricter restrictions on capital outflows. That year, Beijing said it would limit overseas investments in "sensitive areas" that included real estate, hotels and entertainment.

DAN ALPERT, MANAGING PARTNER WESTWOOD CAPITAL "It is still inordinately difficult to get money out of China to go into US direct investment other than what the Chinese government says is ok, and guess what most of that is stuff involving the acquisition of technology that CFIUS doesn't want them to have."

Rhodium Group says the money from China isn't likely to start flowing back to the US anytime soon. The Trump administration is seeking more restrictions on Chinese investment, not less. Karina Huber, CGTN, New York.