The Imperative of Paying Attention to the Politics of Chinese Outward FDI

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
Publication Date: 
August 20th, 2014

In this presentation ("The Imperative of Paying Attention to the Politics of Chinese Outward Investment"), which was a keynote address given at the 8th China Goes Global conference in Shanghai in August 2014 , Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, founder and Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, stresses the importance of paying attention to politics when studying Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI).

His presentation first highlights how Chinese OFDI is having a great impact economically and politically. He then shows how politics has been associated with Chinese OFDI since the beginning and that contemporary news stories only serve to further illustrate how Chinese OFDI and politics are closely intertwined. He subsequently argues why the structure of the Chinese state and China's state capitalism model, among other things, make it essential to give due attention to politics when studying Chinese OFDI. He then offers a simple framework, based on the long standing international business concepts of home country, host country, and the global political environment, for identifying political variables that may influence the levels, intensity, geographic destination, sectoral destination, and other aspects of Chinese OFDI.