Global foreign direct investment -- or FDI flows -- fell by double-digits in 2018. It's an unfortunate development for a global economy in need of a jolt. FDI into a host country creates higher quality jobs, sparks productivity and diversifies revenue streams for the investing company. Against this backdrop, FDI into China grew 6.8-percent in the first five months of 2019. How's the big picture looking when it comes to investing in China and Chinese capital going overseas? Take a look.

Facing the specter of protectionism, the rising concerns about globalization and the uncertainty all of this brings for businesses, Chinese President Xi Jinping had this to say at the Second Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation in April.

XI JINPING CHINESE PRESIDENT "We will work for the all-round opening-up of modern services, manufacturing and agriculture, and will allow the operation of foreign-controlled or wholly foreign-owned businesses in more sectors. We will plan new pilot free trade zones and explore at a faster pace the opening of a free trade port. We will accelerate the adoption of supporting regulations to ensure full implementation of the Foreign Investment Law."

China's new foreign investment law passed the country's legislature with overwhelming support in March.

This is a framework DETERMINED to strengthen protection of foreign capital and intellectual property rights while at the same time promoting GREATER and EASIER access to a rapidly growing consumer market. Here's Peter Estlin of the City of London on China's new foreign investment law.

PETER ESTLIN LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY OF LONDON "To me it's an exciting opportunity, one that we very much welcome to partner with China, to help look at greater investment going into China, and we see this as a continuation of President Xi's overall liberalization of the Chinese market."

In its latest Business Climate Survey released in February, the American Chamber of Commerce in China says its members still view China as a TOP priority for near-term investment plans.

At the start of this year, Tesla broke ground in Shanghai for what its founder and CEO Elon Musk says will be the firm's most advanced giga-factory, benefiting from open policies encouraging wholly-foreign owned subsidiaries in China's auto industry.

For many multinationals, the key right now is how far they plan to see ahead. It's about balancing the short-term uncertainty from trade disputes with the long-term potential of the Chinese market.

JOERG WUTTKE, PRESIDENT EU CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN CHINA "The more you are into heavily capital intensive industries the more you are into long term investments, the squabbles, the trade wars don't matter too much because long term it's just going to be a growth story. For example in chemicals, 60% of global growth is in China so you'll be here, end of discussion."

Chinese firms haven't been shy putting capital to work across borders either. The first five months of 2019 saw Chinese companies investing in 149 countries and regions abroad in over 3,000 enterprises.

Chinese outbound direct investment into the manufacturing sector of host countries surged 16-percent in the first five months on-year. This is significant as investment into factories doesn't just create good-paying jobs but boosts the value-add of the host country's industrial sector as well.

Investment and trade are two sides of the same coin, complementing each other to create a virtuous cycle of development. Prof. Yu Miaojie from Peking University sees Chinese investment into Belt and Road countries doing exactly that.

PROF. YU MIAOJIE, DEPUTY DEAN NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DEVELOPMENT, PEKING UNIVERSITY "In the first six months, China's outward FDI to those countries increased pretty fast. If you look at the data carefully, you can see that China's outward FDI and even import and export to those east Asia countries increased pretty fast. And this is basically because we got a very good FTA with ASEAN 10+1 agreement in 2010. And with this agreement, China's outward FDI and China's imports and exports grow pretty fast in the last decade."

MICHAEL WANG BEIJING "For investment coming into China, less and less it's about simply dollar amounts and more and more about which industries investment dollars are flowing into. For example, FDI utilization in high-tech industries shot-up nearly 50% from January to May compared to the same period last year. When we take a look at Chinese capital investing abroad, China is still the largest investor in the least developed countries, creating jobs from Laos to Ethiopia. We're seeing investment in Belt and Road countries occupying a growing portion of Chinese outbound direct investment, now standing at nearly 13% of total Chinese ODI. With a new foreign investment law set to increase market access and the pace of ODI catching up to FDI, the message is clear, China stands ready to contribute its share to support global investment flows. MW, CGTN."