Pacific Affairs: An International Review of Asia and the Pacific

Volume 75, No. 2

 

The Motivations Behind China's Government-Initiated Industrial Investments Overseas
By Mark Yaolin Wang

 

Abstract

This paper attempts to examine the motivations for Chinese government-initiated industrial investment overseas by an evaluation of official statistics and an array of relevant studies and commentary over the last thirty years or so. It concludes that China's overseas investment has been an element of a broader process of restructuring and political activities in which the government, rather than simply entrepreneurship, plays an important role. Chinese government-initiated industrial investments overseas have been motivated not only by traditional determinants but also by the pressures of globalization and regionalization. More importantly, there have been political and strategic considerations behind China's decisions to invest overseas.