In “Disconnecting European Companies and Countries? Case studies Call for Modulating Worries about China’s Digital Silk Road,” part of a special issue of the top-ranked European Journal of International Management focusing on China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (“Wong MNC Center”), and Dr.
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,” 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,” 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” 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,” 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.
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).
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.
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," 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.
