China now a net capital exporter

Chinese firms also did a better job balancing stakeholder interests and honoring corporate social responsibility by boosting local employment and helping solve pollution problems.

The State Council, China's cabinet, released a much shorter list of ODI projects needing government approval to encourage enterprises to enter the international market last November.

Chinese offshore investment will reach $1.25 trillion over the next decade, Chinese president Xi Jinping said at the opening ceremony of the APEC CEO summit last November in Beijing. That would almost triple Chinese outbound direct investment (ODI) in the next ten years.

With $4 trillion in foreign exchange reserve and continuous supportive policies, the potential for a much larger flow of investment outbound is enormous.

"The fundamentals for ODI growth are promising and China's capital outflows will accelerate faster than FDI in the next few years," Shen said.