China received more foreign investment than the US last year.

The Chinese economy last year brought in more foreign direct investment than any other country, which dropped the United States to the top of its list.

China brought in $ 163 billion in inflows last year, compared to $ 134 billion attracted by the US, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development wrote in a report released on Sunday. In 2019, the US received $ 251 billion in inflows and China $ 140 billion.

Overall, the report found that foreign direct investment has risen globally as the Covid-19 pandemic has brought countries large and small to virtual stalemate.

FDI fell 42% to $ 859 billion in 2020, a 30% drop even in the depths of the 2009 financial crisis. The economic measure takes into account investments in a country made by people and businesses in other countries, such as building a factory or opening a satellite office.

Developed countries were hit harder last year than the so-called ‘developing’ countries. Investment in the US fell by 49%, slightly less than the average country of 69%.

FDI in developing countries has fallen a relatively moderate 12%. China, which was included on the list, actually saw a small increase of 4% in its inflows.

According to the report, the European Union has reportedly fallen by two-thirds, while the UK has no new inflows. The UK has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus.

China managed to get coronavirus within its borders largely under control last year, despite being the first nation to be hit by the deadly disease.

Strict lock-up measures, early mass tests and an abundance of personal protective equipment are attributed to the relatively low death toll in the country.

Since the onset of the pandemic, China has had fewer than 100,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and, according to Johns Hopkins University data, has suffered about 4,800 deaths due to the disease.

The US, which has a much smaller population, has nearly 25 million cases and more than 400,000 deaths.

Despite the fact that China surpassed the US in the flow of foreign direct investment in 2020, the total stock of foreign investment in the US remains much larger than in China, according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Other economic data also suggested that China bears the brunt of the pandemic better than its peers. Beijing reported 2.3% GDP growth in 2020 earlier this month and is expected to be the only major economy to achieve a positive annual growth rate.

The United Nations report comes one day before Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum. President Joe Biden is not expected to attend the event.