????2011年3月，中國投資者斥資215萬美元買下俄亥俄州托萊多市莫米河上的餐飲中心。很快他們又以380萬美元購入位于碼頭區(qū)的69英畝新近凈化過的土地，并承諾投資2億美元用于新的商住開發(fā)。當年9月，在附近的一座橋對面，另一家中國公司又斥資300萬美元，收購了一家可以俯瞰小聯(lián)盟球場的老旅館。

????這些收購活動只是中國投資者在美國中西部進一步擴大投資的跳板。最后出售的旅館距底特律機場僅一小時車程，買家五湖全球集團（Five Lakes Global Group）在其網(wǎng)站上宣稱，托萊多是直達克利夫蘭、哥倫布、代頓、芝加哥和底特律的“五星級物流區(qū)”。

????托萊多人口28.7萬，僅為俄亥俄州第四大城市，但是地理位置優(yōu)越，處于兩大重要高速公路：75號和80/90號州際公路的交匯處。市長麥克?貝爾告訴《托萊多刀鋒報》（Toledo Blade）：“我的目標是將托萊多打造成真正的國際化都市”。

????貝爾是獨立人士（指非民主黨或共和黨——編者注），他于2010年上任后多次造訪中國，招徠投資者。他的中英文雙語的歡迎辭還出現(xiàn)在五湖集團的中文網(wǎng)站上。五湖的中文名稱其實是“大湖”全球，公司的網(wǎng)站還宣傳，貝爾和俄亥俄州州長約翰?R.卡希克將于9月份參加在托萊多舉行的區(qū)域投資論壇，并發(fā)表演說。

????雖然在國家經(jīng)濟層面上，大家關注的話題還是中國持有的美國國債，但美國許多地方政府則更多地著眼于能推動當?shù)亟?jīng)濟的交易。很多地方的市長和市政府官員已經(jīng)去中國會見潛在的投資者，造訪中美合資企業(yè)，貝爾只是其中之一。就在最近，愛荷華州州長特里?布蘭斯塔德招待了到訪的中國國家副主席習近平（公認的中國下一代領導人），并接受回訪邀請。印第安那州副州長貝基?斯基爾曼本月已經(jīng)率第二個貿(mào)易代表團訪華。亞特蘭大市長卡西姆?里德幾周前也親自帶隊訪問中國。

????按照全國房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀人協(xié)會（National Association of Realtors）的數(shù)據(jù)，中國公民在美國的房地產(chǎn)投資僅次于加拿大人。而根據(jù)全球經(jīng)濟研究公司Rhodium集團，在中國對美國的私人投資中，按照價值計算，酒店和房地產(chǎn)是僅次于信息科技的第二大行業(yè)。

????從2003年到2011年，總計有236項私人投資，總額達63億美元，其中10項投資于酒店、房地產(chǎn)和娛樂業(yè)。

????近年來，不只是托萊多經(jīng)歷了中國投資的熱潮。Rhodium集團收集的數(shù)據(jù)中大多數(shù)投資發(fā)生在東西海岸，中國到俄亥俄州的投資在2008年到2011年共計7項，而在2003年到2007年之間則是一片空白。

????中國的富豪們確實有必要分散投資。由于中國國內(nèi)房地產(chǎn)泡沫的危險性和銀行系統(tǒng)的不確定性，即使是遠離大都市的美國房地產(chǎn)也對他們具有很大的吸引力。

????In March 2011, Chinese investors paid $2.15 million cash for a restaurant complex on the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. Soon they put down another $3.8 million on 69 acres of newly decontaminated land in the city's Marina District, promising to invest $200 million in a new residential-commercial development. That September, another Chinese firm spent $3 million for an aging hotel across a nearby bridge with a view of the minor league ballpark.

????The investors have framed their purchases as a gateway for further investment opportunities in the Midwest. The newly sold hotel is about an hour's drive from the Detroit airport, and on its website, the hotel's purchaser, Five Lakes Global Group, advertises Toledo as a "5-star logistics region" with access to Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Chicago, and Detroit.

????With a population of 287,000, Toledo is only the fourth largest city in Ohio, but it lies at the junction of two important highways -- I-75 and I-80/90. "My vision is to make Toledo a true international city," Toledo's Mayor Mike Bell told the Toledo Blade.

????Bell, an independent who took office in 2010, has made repeated visits to China to court investors. A welcome message from Bell, subtitled in Chinese, appears on Five Lakes' Chinese website. Five Lakes' Chinese name might be better translated as "Great Lakes" Global, and the company's website advertises a regional investment forum to take place in Toledo in September, with speeches by Bell and Ohio Governor John R. Kasich.

????While the national economic conversation on China is preoccupied with Chinese-held government debt, local governments have been working for deals that benefit local economies. Bell is not alone: many mayors and other local officials have traveled to China to meet with potential investors and visit joint ventures between U.S. and Chinese companies. Just recently, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad accepted an invitation to visit China after the state hosted visiting Chinese Vice President and presumptive next leader Xi Jinping. Indiana's Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman this month led her second trade mission to China. And Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed led his own team a few weeks ago.

????Chinese citizens are second only to Canadians in the number of real estate investments in the U.S., according to the National Association of Realtors. The Rhodium Group, a global economic research firm, ranks hospitality and real estate as the second-largest sector by value for private Chinese investment in the U.S., after information technology.

????From 2003 to 2011, Rhodium counted 236 private investment deals worth a total of $6.3 billion. Of those, 10 fell under hospitality, real estate, and entertainment.

????Toledo is not alone in experiencing an influx of overall Chinese investment in recent years. While most deals in Rhodium's data took place on the coasts, seven China-Ohio deals were recorded from 2008 to 2011, compared with none from 2003 to 2007.

????China's super-rich have good reason to diversify their holdings. In China the possibility of a real estate bubble and uncertainty about the banking system can make U.S. real estate, even away from the metropolis, an appealing bet.