December 2020 Newsletter

The Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, a California (US) think tank, promotes discussion about and research on the politico-economy of MNCs investing, operating, or domiciled in East Asia.


MNC Center News

Wong MNC Center sponsored book on China's Maritime Silk Road, Africa, and the Middle East published
The third and final volume, entitled China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative, Africa, and the Middle East: Feats, Freezes, and Failures, in the 3-part edited book series on China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) orchestrated by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) has been published online by Palgrave.  This book  analyzes the progress of the MSRI, highlights...
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Wong MNC Center orchestrated volume entitled China’s Maritime Silk Road, Africa, and the Middle East: Feats, Freezes, and Failures publicized on Palgrave MacMillan
China’s Maritime Silk Road, Africa, and the Middle East: Feats, Freezes, and Failures is now publicized on the Palgrave MacMillan website.  This edited volume, initiated and brought to fruition by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), features contributions by a distinguished group of experts on Africa-China and Middle East-China economic and political affairs on topics such as...
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Founding Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard interviewed for Financial Times story about plummeting China-US bilateral investment
Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, was interviewed for a Financial Times story covering plummeting foreign direct investment (FDI) flows between China and the United States (US).  The story described trends in bilateral FDI statistics, identified some of the reasons such as Covid-19 and tensions between Beijing and Washington for the...
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Blog Postings

Circling around China’s Dual Circulation Policy, part I-Ins and Outs

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
In May 2020, China’s two-track “dual circulation” strategy (DSC) came to light.  An internal circulation track—the “mainstay”—encompasses domestic consumption and production.   An external circulation track entails more opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) and efforts to expand China’s external connections.  China will use the former to support growth and its move up the value-added chain.  China will...
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Resilient Supply Chain Initiative (RSCI) and its Prospects

Dr. Amitendu Palit
Covid-19 is refashioning relations among countries.  One example is the Resilient Supply Chain Initiative (RSCI), proposed by India, Japan, and Australia, which aims to assemble a coalition of countries, ostensibly middle powers and reasonably large economies, to restructure supply chains in a way that reduces economic dependence on China.  The wellspring of the RSCI was the Covid-19 epidemic which seriously interfered with the normal...
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MNCs in the News

MNCs in the News-2020 December

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) release revised 2020 catalog of encouraged industries for foreign direct investment (FDI). China’s NDRC issues rules relating to...

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MNCs in the News-2020 November

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China continues to surge despite Covid-19 and other challenges. China’s Ministry of Commerce says China will take further measures to liberalize ownership restrictions for foreign...

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MNCs in the News-2020 October

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) says that inward foreign direct investment (FDI) increased 5.2 percent for the first nine months of 2020 when compared to the same period the prior year. China’s National People’s...

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Publications of Wong MNC Center Staff & Research Fellows

The Role of Internationalization in Enhancing the Innovation Performance of Chinese EMNEs

Stefano Elia, Mario Kafouros, and Peter J. Buckley

This article enhances our understanding of how different internationalization paths by Emerging Multinational Enterprises (EMNEs) can affect performance. Using a geographic relational approach as well as a portfolio-level analysis, the authors consider six factors relating to entry mode and geography (entry mode, geographic breadth and depth, cultural and institutional distance, and the economic state of the host country).

A New Chinese Economic Order?

Gregory Shaffer and Henry Gao

This article reports on the new and decentralized trade governance model that China is building by exploiting finance, trade, and investment initiatives. Memorandums of understanding, contracts, and trade and investment treaties are creating a hub and spokes legal order with China at the center. The piece initially examines China’s use of state-owned and private enterprise investments and commercial contracts to export its infrastructure-based development model. It then looks at China’s use of free trade and investment agreements as well as domestic innovation policy to complement this.

Foreign Direct Investment Screening and Congressional Backlash Politics in the United States

Brandice Canes-Wrone, Lauren Mattioli, and Sophie Meunier

This article contributes to the literature on the ongoing anti economic globalization backlash by studying the United States (US)’ safeguards relating to foreign direct investment (FDI). Despite the US’s traditional welcoming attitude towards FDI, some deals have garnered negative political attention resulting in readjustments to the institutions that the US uses to manage inward FDI (IFDI) flows. The rise of China as a major source of IFDI has presented new challenges and spurred new limitations.

China’s MSRI in Africa and the Middle East: Political Economic Realities Continue to Shape Results and Ramifications

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

This chapter serves both as a primer on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) and the MSRI in Africa as well as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the introduction to the edited volume. It begins with background on the history, features, and goals of China’s MSRI, noting various contemporary issues surrounding China’s ambitious scheme.

Iran in China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI): Bounded Progress and Bounded Promise

Manochehr Dorraj and Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

Iran is one of China’s most important partners in the Middle East and it hosts extensive Chinese investment and infrastructure projects. Iran is central player in China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) and given the aforementioned situation many believed Iran would provide fertile soil for the development of the MSRI. An analysis of the scale and implementation of the MSRI in Iran, however, does not track with such expectations.

The Maritime Silk Road Initiative and Ethiopia: Transforming Policies, Institutions, and Politics in Expected and Unexpected Ways

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard and Edson Ziso

Ethiopia has very close political, military, and economic relations with China, with some arguing Addis Ababa has become a near client state of China’s as a result of its economic needs, China’s trade, foreign direct investment, loan, and infrastructure offerings, and the allure of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). This chapter offers a discussion of the MSRI in Ethiopia, which demonstrates the MSRI has been progressing relatively smoothly, though it faces genuine challenges. It also shows the perspective that Ethiopia is a client state is overly simplistic.

The Social Responsibility of Multinationals: From an Afterthought to Center Stage

Lorraine Eden

This chapter explores the treatment of multinational corporations (MNCs) and social issues from 1960 to the present day through a review of the extent scholarly literature. From the 1960s on, economic and international business scholars concentrated on the economic and political impacts of MNCs, while international political economy scholars devoted more research to political and social issues. Since the 2010s, however, scholars of MNCs have been given more attention to the global social responsibility of such actors.

COVID-19 and International Business: A Viewpoint

Ilan Alon

This article contends COVID-19 will spur a new world order with implications for international institutions, the unity of the European Union, multinational corporations (MNCs), foreign direct investment flows, the use of virtual money, and government policy. It argues we will see a rise in nationalism and protectionism, changing attitudes towards information from certain sources, the localization and regionalization of supply chains, the bifurcation of the world, and the securitzation of certain industries.

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