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

Selling to China: Stories of Success, Failure, and Constant Change

Kerr Gibbs, ed.

Dealing with China has never been easy for American businesses, but the situation has become more difficult in recent years due to China’s challenging contemporary economic situation, increased political and economic tensions between China and the United States (US), and the evolving political environment within China and the US, among other things. In this context, Selling to China (Singapore: Palgrave MacMillan, 2023), edited by Ker D. Gibbs, the former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and an Advisory Board member of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H.

Fighting Monopolies: The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, India, and the Competition for the Marketplace of International Development

Amitendu Palit and Preety Phogal

“Fighting Monopolies,” co-authored by Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr. Amitendu Palit, explores India’s reluctance to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) looking beyond traditionally emphasized factors like bilateral security concerns, domestic politics, and economic considerations. It contends that the BRI represents China’s bid to establish itself as the dominant player in the global development market, historically dominated by Western nations.

Chinese Investments in Malaysia

Tham Siew Yean

“Chinese Investments in Malaysia,” penned by Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr. Tham Siew Yean, explores the intricate relationship between foreign direct investments (FDI) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Malaysia. The BRI has become a significant driver of Malaysian inward FDI. The study, using an Antecedent, FDI Decision and Outcome (ADO) Framework, is based on a more comprehensive BRI definition, extending beyond infrastructure to encompass manufacturing and services.

Latin American and Caribbean Overseas Foreign Direct Investment in China in the Twenty First Century

Enrique Dussel Peters, ed.

“Latin American and Caribbean Overseas Foreign Direct Investment in China in the Twenty First Century” is a massive tomb, orchestrated by a leading researcher on China-Latin America economic links and Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations non-resident Senior Research Fellow Dr. Enrique Dussel Peters. It consists of a rich set of analyses of the understudied topic of outward foreign direct investment (FDI) by Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries in China.

Pondering the BRI’s Alleged New Roads

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

“Pondering the BRI’s Alleged New Roads,” an Op-Ed by Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, challenges the latest conventional wisdom about the state and future of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). For some, the BRI is on the way to being derailed. For others, the BRI is shifting to a smaller, greener, and more beautiful future.

New Airport Shows Cambodia Can Get What it Wants from China

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

This Op-Ed, penned by Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, discusses Cambodia’s Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, a massive $1 billion dollar airport completed through a build-operate-transfer structure featuring a Chinese consortium, detailing some of the new airport’s pluses and minuses. It also ponders what the airport says about the future of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Europe's Geoeconomic Revolution: How the EU Learned to Wield Its Real Power

Matthias Matthijs and Sophie Meunier

The European Union has recently operated a revolutionary conversion to geoeconomics -the use of economic tools for geopolitical purposes. As a result, the bloc is today more cohesive and better prepared to navigate growing geopolitical rivalries. This article analyzes the conditions that led to the EU’s geoeconomic turn, including the role played by China, the Trump Administration, and internal politics in Europe, as well as the panoply of geoeconomic tools created by the EU over the past four years.

China’s Italian Ports in the Spotlight: Economic, Social and Geopolitical Aspects

Francesca Spigarelli and Dominique Lepore

With the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which positions Italy as a bridge between Europe and the Mediterranean area, Italian ports have been competing to attract container traffic and gain value from the growing trade flows with China. Nevertheless, Chinese investments in Mediterranean ports raise diverse concerns about European competitiveness as well as their geopolitical impact. These issues resurfaced after Italy committed itself to the BRI by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China in March 2019.

Plunging into Piraeus: Calming Excessive Positive and Negative Froth

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

"Plunging into Piraeus," which is the 6th chapter in Chinese overseas ports in Europe and the Americas (Routledge, 2023), delves into COSCO Pacific’s extensive role in the Greek Port of Piraeus. This deep involvement has spurred a surfeit of commentary about its effects, much of it excessively laudatory or critical. This chapter observes, like many others, that China’s participation has dramatically enhanced the port’s performance and also acknowledges its noteworthy job creation effects.

Sailing into Chinese Overseas Ports in Europe and the Americas: Clarifying Murky Waters

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

"Sailing into Chinese Overseas Ports in Europe and the Americas," the introductory chapter (chapter 1) to Chinese overseas ports in Europe and the Americas (Routledge, 2023), has several purposes. It sets forth the many rationales Chinese companies have to expand and deepen their roles in sea and river ports in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and numerous reasons that the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC/China) has to support their increasing footprint overseas.

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