????2011年3月,，中國(guó)投資者斥資215萬(wàn)美元買(mǎi)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(wàn)美元購(gòu)入位于碼頭區(qū)的69英畝新近凈化過(guò)的土地，并承諾投資2億美元用于新的商住開(kāi)發(fā),。當(dāng)年9月,，在附近的一座橋?qū)γ妫硪患抑袊?guó)公司又斥資300萬(wàn)美元,，收購(gòu)了一家可以俯瞰小聯(lián)盟球場(chǎng)的老旅館。

????這些收購(gòu)活動(dòng)只是中國(guó)投資者在美國(guó)中西部進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)大投資的跳板,。最后出售的旅館距底特律機(jī)場(chǎng)僅一小時(shí)車(chē)程,，買(mǎi)家五湖全球集團(tuán)（Five Lakes Global Group）在其網(wǎng)站上宣稱(chēng)，托萊多是直達(dá)克利夫蘭,、哥倫布,、代頓、芝加哥和底特律的“五星級(jí)物流區(qū)”,。

????托萊多人口28.7萬(wàn),，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(hào)和80/90號(hào)州際公路的交匯處,。市長(zhǎng)麥克?貝爾告訴《托萊多刀鋒報(bào)》（Toledo Blade）：“我的目標(biāo)是將托萊多打造成真正的國(guó)際化都市”。

????貝爾是獨(dú)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(guó),，招徠投資者,。他的中英文雙語(yǔ)的歡迎辭還出現(xiàn)在五湖集團(tuán)的中文網(wǎng)站上。五湖的中文名稱(chēng)其實(shí)是“大湖”全球,，公司的網(wǎng)站還宣傳,，貝爾和俄亥俄州州長(zhǎng)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(shuō),。

????雖然在國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)層面上，大家關(guān)注的話題還是中國(guó)持有的美國(guó)國(guó)債,，但美國(guó)許多地方政府則更多地著眼于能推動(dòng)當(dāng)?shù)亟?jīng)濟(jì)的交易,。很多地方的市長(zhǎng)和市政府官員已經(jīng)去中國(guó)會(huì)見(jiàn)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(ài)荷華州州長(zhǎng)特里?布蘭斯塔德招待了到訪的中國(guó)國(guó)家副主席習(xí)近平（公認(rèn)的中國(guó)下一代領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人）,，并接受回訪邀請(qǐng),。印第安那州副州長(zhǎng)貝基?斯基爾曼本月已經(jīng)率第二個(gè)貿(mào)易代表團(tuán)訪華。亞特蘭大市長(zhǎng)卡西姆?里德幾周前也親自帶隊(duì)訪問(wèn)中國(guó),。

????按照全國(guó)房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人協(xié)會(huì)（National Association of Realtors）的數(shù)據(jù)，中國(guó)公民在美國(guó)的房地產(chǎn)投資僅次于加拿大人,。而根據(jù)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)研究公司Rhodium集團(tuán),，在中國(guó)對(duì)美國(guó)的私人投資中，按照價(jià)值計(jì)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(jì)有236項(xiàng)私人投資,，總額達(dá)63億美元，其中10項(xiàng)投資于酒店,、房地產(chǎn)和娛樂(lè)業(yè)。

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

????中國(guó)的富豪們確實(shí)有必要分散投資。由于中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)房地產(chǎn)泡沫的危險(xiǎn)性和銀行系統(tǒng)的不確定性,，即使是遠(yuǎn)離大都市的美國(guó)房地產(chǎn)也對(duì)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.