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年前，威廉姆斯(Brad Williams)有250名员工的旅游房车公司停止了生产，他最终将其中的200多人予以解雇。由于销售增速放缓，威廉姆斯找不到资金来保持工厂的正常运转。
David McNew for The Wall Street Journal
威廉姆斯（左）雇佣了1200名工人为MVP RV干活，多亏了来自中国企业家的3.1亿美元投资。他说，这几乎比神话故事还离奇。
现如今，这家名为MVP RV Inc.的公司即将增雇1,200名员工，其房车产量将增加约30,000辆，今年达到40,000辆。导致该公司命运逆转的原因是一笔来自中国企业家的3.1亿美元投资，这位企业家将亚洲视为美国产旅游房车的未开发市场。
威廉姆斯说，这几乎比神话故事还离奇。
与他的公司一样，许多美国小企业正在从中国在美直接投资大增中获益。
购买美国国债曾经是中国在美投资的主要形式，而中国的在美投资方式目前正在向并购美国企业、在美国成立合资企业以及参股组建新企业转变。
纽约研究公司Rhodium Group说，去年中国民营企业向各类规模的美国公司总共投资了近50亿美元，比2009年增加了一倍还多。这只相当于去年美国对华直接投资的一个零头，据美国商务部(U.S. Commerce Department)说，美国去年投向中国的资金超过550亿美元。
但Rhodium Group的研究总监哈内曼(Thilo Hanemann)说，中国私营企业对美国的投资预计将大幅增长。
尚不清楚这些来自中国的投资中有多少投向了小企业。中美总商会会长任剑浩(Siva Yam)说，中国许多投向美国小企业的资金不足1,000万美元，中方投资人都想在美国寻找初期合作伙伴。
他说，从最近达成的交易看，投资涉及清洁能源、汽车、宇航、信息技术和医疗保健等行业。
与此同时，白宫也在鼓励美国小企业主去寻找全球合作伙伴。贸易数据显示，在美国近3,000万家中小企业中，目前仅有1%的企业向海外销售产品。
纽黑文大学(University of New Haven)的营销学教授哈雷(George Haley)说，虽然中国投资者投向美国公司的资金值得欢迎，但他担心中国投资美国小企业最终可能还是要服务于中国政府的一项努力，即将美国公司迁往中国，在技术、资源和就业方面使中国获益。
威廉姆斯将MVP RV与中国企业家达成的交易描述为一种合作伙伴关系，而不是他的公司被中国企业家收购。他说，我们不是输出就业岗位，而是出口产品；我们是一家土生土长的美国公司，只是碰巧有一位来自中国的合作伙伴。
威廉姆斯从中国企业家获得这根救命绳索几乎全凭偶然。当企业的销售去年出现放缓之际，威廉姆斯刚好去中国深圳出差，他此行的目的是将自己的公司重塑为一家电动汽车生产商。威廉姆斯虽然与此行专门去接洽的那家中国公司谈崩了，但他却被介绍认识了钟馨稼(Winston Chung)，后者的企业温斯顿全球能源公司(Winston Global Energy)为电动汽车生产电池。
在此后的几个月内，钟馨稼以3.1亿美元入股MVP RV，成为后者的大股东。威廉姆斯和钟馨稼希望开发出一种电池驱动的旅游房车，以供应美国市场，并向汽车市场迅速扩展的中国出口。
威廉姆斯说，虽然钟馨稼是MVP RV的大股东，但该公司在与钟馨稼的谈判中自始至终明确的一点是，公司的管理团队将继续经营这家企业。威廉姆斯说，如果被人视为出售了自己的公司并使公司的就业机会流失到海外，他将感到遗憾。威廉姆斯还说，有人担心的这种事并未出现，作为美国企业，我们不应害怕与外国投资者合作，这是我们需要做的事情。
Angus Loten
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Two years ago, Brad Williams halted production at his 250-employee recreation-vehicle company and eventually laid off more than 200 workers, unable to find cash to keep his factory humming when sales slowed.
'During the downturn, we went on the hunt for capital, but after 44 presentations we came up short,' says Mr. Williams, 56 years old.
Today MVP RV Inc. is on the verge of hiring 1,200 workers and boosting production by some 30,000 motor homes to 40,000 this year. The difference is a $310 million investment from a Chinese entrepreneur who sees Asia as an untapped market for American-made RVs.
'It's almost something out of a fairy tale,' Mr. Williams says.
His Riverside, Calif., company is one of a growing number of small U.S. companies benefiting from a surge in foreign direct investment from China.
Once dominated by purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds, Chinese foreign investment is shifting to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and taking stakes in new businesses.
Private-sector Chinese businesses and investors put nearly $5 billion into U.S. firms of all sizes last year, more than double the amount in 2009, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York research firm. That's a small fraction of the more than $55 billion that has flowed from the U.S. to China, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
But the flow of private-sector investment toward the U.S. from China is expected to grow substantially, says Rhodium research director Thilo Hanemann.
It isn't clear how much of the Chinese investment funds go to small businesses. Many of the deals with small businesses are under $10 million and involve Chinese investors looking for early-stage U.S. partners, says Siva Yam, president of the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce.
Recent deals have involved clean-energy, automotive, aerospace, information-technology and health-care industries, he says.
The White House, meanwhile, is encouraging small-business owners to seek global partnerships. Of the nearly 30 million small and midsize companies, only 1% currently sell goods abroad, trade figures show.
George Haley, a marketing professor at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, says although China investors provide welcome capital to U.S. companies, he worries that the ultimate goal in small-business investments is part of an effort by Beijing to relocate the companies to China and reap gains in technology, resources and jobs.
Mr. Williams describes MVP RV's deal as a partnership, not a takeover. 'We're not exporting jobs, we're exporting products. We're a homegrown company that happens to have a partner from China,' he says.
His lifeline arose almost by accident. When sales were slow last year, Mr. Williams traveled to Shenzhen, China, as part of plan to remake the company as an electric-car manufacturer. Talks with the Chinese company he'd gone to meet collapsed, but Mr. Williams was introduced to Winston Chung, whose company, Winston Global Energy, makes batteries for electric vehicles.
Over the course of several months, Mr. Chung became the majority shareholder in MVP RV in exchange for his $310 million investment. Messrs. Williams and Chung hope to develop a battery-powered motor home for sale in the U.S. and export to China's rapidly expanding automotive market.
Mr. Williams says although Mr. Chung is a majority owner, the company was very clear throughout negotiations that the MVP RV team will be running the business. He would regret being perceived as having sold out the company and offshoring jobs. Mr. Williams adds, 'That fear is unfounded. As American businesses, we should not be fearful of partnering with foreign investors. This is something we need to do.'
Angus Loten
'During the downturn, we went on the hunt for capital, but after 44 presentations we came up short,' says Mr. Williams, 56 years old.
Today MVP RV Inc. is on the verge of hiring 1,200 workers and boosting production by some 30,000 motor homes to 40,000 this year. The difference is a $310 million investment from a Chinese entrepreneur who sees Asia as an untapped market for American-made RVs.
'It's almost something out of a fairy tale,' Mr. Williams says.
His Riverside, Calif., company is one of a growing number of small U.S. companies benefiting from a surge in foreign direct investment from China.
Once dominated by purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds, Chinese foreign investment is shifting to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and taking stakes in new businesses.
Private-sector Chinese businesses and investors put nearly $5 billion into U.S. firms of all sizes last year, more than double the amount in 2009, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York research firm. That's a small fraction of the more than $55 billion that has flowed from the U.S. to China, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
But the flow of private-sector investment toward the U.S. from China is expected to grow substantially, says Rhodium research director Thilo Hanemann.
It isn't clear how much of the Chinese investment funds go to small businesses. Many of the deals with small businesses are under $10 million and involve Chinese investors looking for early-stage U.S. partners, says Siva Yam, president of the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce.
Recent deals have involved clean-energy, automotive, aerospace, information-technology and health-care industries, he says.
The White House, meanwhile, is encouraging small-business owners to seek global partnerships. Of the nearly 30 million small and midsize companies, only 1% currently sell goods abroad, trade figures show.
George Haley, a marketing professor at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, says although China investors provide welcome capital to U.S. companies, he worries that the ultimate goal in small-business investments is part of an effort by Beijing to relocate the companies to China and reap gains in technology, resources and jobs.
Mr. Williams describes MVP RV's deal as a partnership, not a takeover. 'We're not exporting jobs, we're exporting products. We're a homegrown company that happens to have a partner from China,' he says.
His lifeline arose almost by accident. When sales were slow last year, Mr. Williams traveled to Shenzhen, China, as part of plan to remake the company as an electric-car manufacturer. Talks with the Chinese company he'd gone to meet collapsed, but Mr. Williams was introduced to Winston Chung, whose company, Winston Global Energy, makes batteries for electric vehicles.
Over the course of several months, Mr. Chung became the majority shareholder in MVP RV in exchange for his $310 million investment. Messrs. Williams and Chung hope to develop a battery-powered motor home for sale in the U.S. and export to China's rapidly expanding automotive market.
Mr. Williams says although Mr. Chung is a majority owner, the company was very clear throughout negotiations that the MVP RV team will be running the business. He would regret being perceived as having sold out the company and offshoring jobs. Mr. Williams adds, 'That fear is unfounded. As American businesses, we should not be fearful of partnering with foreign investors. This is something we need to do.'
Angus Loten
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