外资
wàizī · HSK 6
foreign capital
💰🌍 外 outside + 资 capital = money flowing in from foreign shores
外 means outside or foreign, 资 means capital or resources. Together they name investment funds that originate abroad, like when an overseas company bankrolls a local venture.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.