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MNCs in the News

MNC in the News-2019-02-01
February 3rd, 2019
A German Chamber of Commerce in China (AHK) survey makes clear German companies are concerned by China’s slow progress in resolving persistent problems facing foreign direct investment (FDI). European Commission considering taking action to prevent EU businesses from using 5G mobile networks provided by any country or company suspected of using its equipment for spying or sabotage. In 2018, Chinese firms were the biggest buyers of overseas mining assets, especially minerals needed for clean energy technologies and...
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MNCs in the News-2019-01-25
January 28th, 2019
Sinochem’s chairman predicts Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) abroad will decrease due to trade tensions with the United States (US) and China’s domestic economic slowdown. Former China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) chairman says China should make sure that its investment and financing projects meet international standards to quieten overseas criticism of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The chairman of DP World warns other countries to be careful of China because of the latter’s predatory...
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Wong MNC Center News

2018-10 Global Backlash Conference Offers Valuable Insights into National and Corporate Efforts to Cope with Anti-Globalization
October 29th, 2018
In late October, the one-and-a-half-day Global Backlash conference, hosted by UC Berkeley and co-organized by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), Berkeley APEC Studies Center (BASC), and Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC), took place at the University of California, Berkeley (USA). During the first day, participants, including academics and former and current policymakers, from China, Korea, India,...
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Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard presents paper at 2018-09-21 Workshop on China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative, Africa, and Middle East
September 30th, 2018
On September 21, 2018, the Mr. & Mr. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporation (Wong MNC Center) and the University of Nottingham, Ningbo jointly held a workshop on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRSI), Africa, and the Middle East. The workshop reviewed the progress of the MSRSI, examined the role of Djibouti in the MSRI (David Styan), contemplated relations between the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and China within the context...
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Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard Gives Speech at “2018 June 20th (2018) China Venture Capital & Private Equity Forum”
June 25th, 2018
Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, the Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), gave a keynote speech on June 10 at the 20th China Venture Capital & Private Equity Forum in Shenzhen, China at a panel that considered how to enhance business, scientific and technical, and other forms of cooperation in the Guangdong-Macao-Hong Kong (China) Greater Bay Area (粤港澳大湾区). During his presentation...
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Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard gives speech at 2018 April 18 UNIDO Conference
May 26th, 2018
On April 18, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations gave a speech at a United Nation's Industrial and Development Organization (UNIDO) conference (in Shanghai, China) entitled "Fostering Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) in the New Silk Road Economic Belt: Leveraging potentials of Industrial Parks, Zones, and Cities." The title of Dr. Blanchard's...
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Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard gives keynote speech at 2nd Silicon Valley-Beijing Internet of Things Summit
January 16th, 2018
On January 13, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) gave a keynote speech at the 2nd Silicon Valley-Beijing Internet of Things Summit & Investment and Financing Competition on a panel entitled “Design for Manufacturing.” The title of Dr. Blanchard’s speech was “The Political Environment Surrounding Chinese Expansion in Silicon Valley.” In his...
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Louis Brennan, Ph.D., FTCD, has joined the Wong MNC Center as a Senior Research Fellow
December 27th, 2017
Dr. Louis Brennan, FTCD, has joined the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations as a Senior Research Fellow. Dr. Brennan is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and Professor with the Trinity Business School (Ireland), and an authority on Chinese Investment in Europe. For more information, please see http://www.mnccenter.org/research-fellows.
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Wong MNC Center "The Political Economy of China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI), Africa, and the Middle East" Conference a Big Success
November 22nd, 2017
On November 18 and 19, 2017, the "Political Economy of China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI), Africa, and the Middle East" conference was held in Shanghai, China. The conference, orchestrated and co-sponsored by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) and hosted and co-sponsored by the School of Advanced International and Area Studies (SAIAS) at East China Normal University (ECNU), attracted scholars and...
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Executive Director Blanchard becomes editor of the Palgrave Studies in Asia-Pacific Political Economy series
September 28th, 2015
The Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations Jean-Marc F. Blanchard has become the editor of the Palgrave Studies in Asia-Pacific Political Economy series. The series aims to publish works, which will be meaningful to academics, businesspeople, and policymakers and broaden or deepen their knowledge about contemporary events or significant trends, or enable them to think in new ways about the interaction of...
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Wong MNC Center Publications & Sponsored Publications

“Myanmar’s Role in China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative”

J. Mohan Malik

This article argues that the origins and theoretical underpinnings of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative can actually be traced back to the mid-1980s, that is, almost three decades before the official media unveiled the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). It examines the changing role of Myanmar in China’s grand strategy in general and in MSRI in particular by undertaking an investigation of trade and investment relations. This analysis of the geo-economic and geo-strategic implications of MSRI is undertaken in order to offer a prognosis of benefits and costs for Myanmar.

“Regional Responses to China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative in Southeast Asia”

Shaofeng Chen

Southeast Asia has sat atop China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). By and large, most Southeast Asian countries hailed China’s MSRI, but their responses to it have some variances. The article aims to analyze why they have differing responses. It contends that the primary determinant is changing domestic politics, specifically, ruling elites’ policy priority, degree of trust of China, leaders’ ideology and preference, and social response.

Publications of Wong MNC Center Staff, Advisory Board, and Research Fellows

The Development of China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative in South Asia & it Implication for Business & Government

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

This piece discusses the general features as well as economic and political goals of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the associated Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI), with a special focus on the MSRI in South Asia, a key MSRI region. It also identifies a number of economic factors at the country level, and with respect to China-e.g., high debt levels for some South Asian participants and and Chinese limits on outward foreign direct investment (FDI)-that will affect the realization of the MSRI.

"A retrospective and agenda for future research on Chinese outward foreign direct investment."

Peter J. Buckley, Jeremy Clegg, Hinrich Voss, Adam R. Cross, Xin Liu, and Ping Zheng

The authors’ original 2007 Journal of International Business Studies article, “The Determinants of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment,” was the first theoretically based empirical analysis of the phenomenon. It utilized internalization theory to explain the internationalization of Chinese state-owned enterprises. This paper showed that the authors’ had failed to ask sufficiently challenging questions about the effects of home country institutions on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI).

Data Snapshots, Rankings, and Indexes

Click to enlarge displayed image

Japanese FDI Flows to Southeast Asian Countries Not Reaching Old Highs
China-Japan FDI flows seem little correlated with other economic flows
U.S. FDI in China continues to Increase in the Aggregate and in Most Sectors

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