Chinese equities suffered a US$3.4 billion outflow from non-resident portfolios in the last month of 2023, while Chinese bonds only had a marginal US$189 million inflow for the same month, according to preliminary data from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) released on Thursday.
That said, once foreign bond buyers realize how much foreign creditors get back from the Evergrande debt (0 cents on the dollar), pretty sure foreign bond purchases will drop fast
"Global investors raised their holdings of Chinese bonds for a fourth straight month, capitalizing on a lucrative currency swap strategy to continue their gradual return to the world’s second-biggest debt market.
They bought 181 billion yuan ($25 billion) of local yuan bonds on a net basis in the country’s main interbank market in December, taking their total holdings to the highest since April 2022, show Bloomberg calculations based on clearing house data."
All of this is besides the point that foreigners are buying China's bonds, as @loeg has stated. They are essentially swapping out riskier equities for the safety of bonds which is by and large what is often taught to do when the economy isn't booming, only to switch back into equities when the downward cycle is over.
It's curious why any FDI happened, except small amounts of speculative investment. Property rights in China have always been highly precarious. It's a huge economy but the game is arbitrary and rigged.
Foreign investors have snatched back nearly 90% of the money they put into Chinese stocks this year (2023)
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-econom...
Foreign investment in China turns negative for first time
https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Foreign-investment-in-China-...