While much attention is given to China 's massive trade surplus and its burgeoning balance of payments issues with respect to the USA and other trading partners, there are other, less well-known aspects of China 's economic activity, including its increasingly important outward FDI. This paper investigates China 's FDI in Southeast Asia and the competition with Japan in this region. The key question is to what extent is China supplanting Japan as an investor in Southeast Asia and, if so, in what areas of economic activity?