China-US Trade Frictions: Direct investment from China a major power in US economy

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Lost in the global coverage of this trade spat is the fate of foreign direct investment dollars pouring into the US, and their impact on the economy. According to one research group, Chinese acquisitions and investments in the US plummeted 92 percent in the first half of 2018. CGTN's Mike Walter reports from California.

It's shift change at the International Vitamin Corporation manufacturing plant in Southern California. This place is bustling, and IVC is growing jobs in a big way.

ERIC BAUER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, INT'L VITAMIN CORPORATION "It's nice to have a business with tailwinds. When you think about it, the vitamin nutritional sector is growing rapidly. More consumers are utilizing the products and are getting into it."

IVC manufactures vitamins and nutritional products for all the major stores in the U.S..

This is the type of feel-good story the U.S president longs for. Trump claims China is stealing manufacturing jobs. But the founder of IVC will tell you, in this case at least, China saved American manufacturing jobs.

STEVEN DAI CEO & FOUNDER, INT'L VITAMIN CORPORATION "We have an employee base of 200 employees. So in about eight years, we have grown that to 11-hundred. So we've expanded our base and grown probably about six times."

MIKE WALTER MIRA LOMA, CALIFORNIA "Needless to say the vitamins and supplements business is a healthy one. In fact, there aren't just jobs here in California. IVC has facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina and they want to build capacity, which means perhaps even more manufacturing jobs in other parts of the U.S.."

IVC is an illustration of the power of foreign direct investment from China. A recent Pew Research study showed that China was outpacing other countries in creating jobs in the U.S. through FDI.

The China General Chamber of Commerce tracks the numbers. Since 2005, it says Chinese member companies have poured in tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy and provided jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers directly and indirectly. And while foreign direct investment is down dramatically in 2018, IVC executives feel it has become a story lost in the trade war narrative.

STEVEN DAI CEO & FOUNDER, INT'L VITAMIN CORPORATION "So in our experience, industry, business, I think the direct investment into the manufacturing is very helpful, supportive and important."

ERIC BAUER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, INT'L VITAMIN CORPORATION "I think we see a huge symbiotic relationship in our business certainly with China and the US. In the end, you are trying to create jobs, you are trying to enhance peoples' living, trying to build better lives for people and we can do that in partnership with foreign entities."

IVC will continue to churn out items to help with nutrition and wellness for consumers, but the company knows it will never be able to manufacture a remedy to improve the health of the U.S.-China trade relationship. Mike Walter, CGTN.