30 Chinese companies blacklisted in Austria

The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber has listed 30 Chinese companies on a blacklist, warning Austrian companies against their fraud, Economic Information Daily reported Thursday.

The chamber, with more than 400,000 members, said the selection of the blacklisted Chinese companies is based on complaints of Austrian companies and some suspicious behavior of the management. The blacklist will not be made public and will be distributed internally in the chamber system.

Analysts said the reason behind the blacklisting could be excessive caution toward Chinese companies as well as the companies' internal problems.

The Chinese companies are registered in different places in China, including coastal areas like Guangdong Province and Tianjin and inland provinces like Henan.

The blacklist is a new alert for Chinese companies with global ambitions and shows they are facing greater challenges and risks, experts said. Chinese companies have speeded up overseas investment in the last two years. Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that Chinese investors directly invested a combined $42.2 billion in 2,407 companies in 117 countries and regions in the first seven months, an increase of 52.8 percent year-on-year.