Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard's blog

For once, American and Chinese pundits seem to think alike: There is a budding Great Wall, reinforced by hostile political sentiments in the United States (US) and, above all, the sinister Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), that is raising increasingly high obstacles to Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI).

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the 21^st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI).

It is de rigueur today that Chinese companies need to become more localized. At a minimum, they need to become more aware of local laws, regulations, and customs and abandon the idea they can do things like they do them at home. At the maximum, they need to hire more local workers and managers, source more goods locally, transfer technology, and become better corporate citizens, adopting meaningful corporate social responsibility programs.

Chinese companies from the People’s Republic of China in the US have been organizing to promote their interests as shown by the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC)’s expansion. The rise of the CGCC mirrors the development of foreign business associations in China such as the American Chambers of Commerce (AmCham China). The CGCC’s mission is to “promote the brand of Chinese companies collectively, protect their legal rights, and advocate for fairer regulation” and to serve a bridging function.

In early February an American law firm filed a class action lawsuit against Alibaba for violating the US Securities Exchange Act by concealing information about regulatory problems it faced in China. The case linked to a spat between Alibaba and China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce over the amount of counterfeit goods on Alibaba’s website and the adequacy of Alibaba’s measures to address the problems.