The Heritage Foundation has pulled together a fascinating study of Chinese investment -- showing (with really nice charts and maps!) just where all of those yuan are heading overseas.

A few things to note, plus one question....

• Sub-Saharan Africa is the biggest single region for investment for the Chinese. (Plus, $36.4 billion is a lot of investment in a region whose total GDP is $744 billion.)
• China spends the most money in Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The resource-rich country is one of the very few on Earth whose economy has actually shrunk in the past 20 years (due to a brutal civil war). 
• For every dollar of U.S. investment, China spends 51 cents in Iran.  
• China invests nearly twice as much in west Asia as in east Asia -- a testament to its need for resources, more so than products.
• China spends more in Australia than any other single country.
• Why is China spending so much in Greece? Shipping?