Special Issue:   Chinese Overseas Direct Investment

Table of Content 期刊目录

1. Chinese interests in the global investment regime

Fan He & Bijun Wang

Pages 4-20

 

2. Chinese lessons: state-owned enterprises and the regulation of foreign investment in Canada

Yuen Pau Woo

Pages 21-38

 

3. Toward a multilateral framework for identifying national security threats posed by foreign acquisitions: with special reference to Chinese acquisitions in the United States, Canada, and Australia

Theodore H. Moran

Pages 39-58

 

4. Australia’s foreign investment review board and the regulation of Chinese investment

Rebecca Mendelsohn & Allan Fels

Pages 59-83

 

5. The changing US–China investment relationship

Daniel H. Rosen & Thilo Hanemann

Pages 84-102

 

6. China’s direct investment in the European Union: challenges and policy responses

Françoise Nicolas

Pages 103-125

 

7. A new context for managing overseas direct investment by Chinese state-owned enterprises

Shuping Liao & Yongsheng Zhang

Pages 126-140

 

8. China’s regulatory framework for outward foreign direct investment

Karl P. Sauvant & Victor Zitian Chen

Pages 141-163

 

Article Abstract 文章摘要

1. Chinese interests in the global investment regime

Fan He & Bijun Wang

Pages 4-20

Abstract: China is rising as a major source of outward direct investment (ODI), but barriers to and protectionism against Chinese investment have been strengthened as well. This situation reflects inherent flaws in the architecture governing international investment. This article identifies three of China’s key interests in the global investment regime: (1) to reduce investment barriers and depoliticize foreign regulatory review processes; (2) to ensure better protection of its overseas investment; and (3) to secure international recognition of its unique identity in terms of institutional characteristics and development strategy. As China shows more and more interest in building the architecture governing international investment, we suggest that improving investment governance at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels is the best strategy for China to adopt. Strategies that China should pursue include (1) accelerating the negotiation and revision of bilateral investment treaties (BITs); (2) promoting regional and sub-regional cooperation; and (3) contributing to the architecture governing global investment. 
Link to the original text:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874067

 

2. Chinese lessons: state-owned enterprises and the regulation of foreign investment in Canada

Yuen Pau Woo

Pages 21-38

Abstract: A recent influx of Asian investment is changing the character of the Canadian oil and gas industry and reviving old debates on the regulation of foreign investment. Particular attention has been placed on investment by state-owned enterprises (SOEs), driven in part by public suspicion about investment from China, which has been the largest source of SOE capital flows to Canada. Recent amendments to the Investment Canada Act have made SOE investment more difficult and have raised questions about the country’s attractiveness as an investment destination. This paper makes the case for non-discrimination of SOEs in the investment review process. In the context of a policy framework that is fundamentally supportive of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), the Canadian government does not require a set of redundant measures to protect against the relatively low risk of undesirable investment.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17538963.2013.874073

 

3. Toward a multilateral framework for identifying national security threats posed by foreign acquisitions: with special reference to Chinese acquisitions in the United States, Canada, and Australia

Theodore H. Moran

Pages 39-58

Abstract: This article presents a framework for differentiating between foreign acquisitions of companies that might plausibly pose a national security threat to the home country of the target acquisition and those that do not. This framework originally derives from the experience of the United States. The framework is then shown to be relevant and useful for foreign acquisitions in Canada and Australia. In each case, Chinese acquisitions of US, Canadian, or Australian firms are highlighted. The article concludes by arguing that this framework can serve as an effective nondiscriminatory basis for separating genuine from implausible national security threats from foreign acquisitions across OECD states, to include all countries around the world.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874069

 

4. Australia’s foreign investment review board and the regulation of Chinese investment

Rebecca Mendelsohn & Allan Fels

Pages 59-83

Abstract: Foreign investment has played an important role in the Australian economy since the country’s foundation. Part of the latest wave of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Australia has been by Chinese firms, and largely by state-owned enterprises with connections to the Chinese state. Despite the value it has generated for the Australian economy, Chinese FDI has been controversial and has exposed some of the shortcomings in Australia’s foreign investment review process. This article evaluates Australia’s foreign investment regime, and pays particular attention to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). Questions are asked about how closely the FIRB’s role and processes resemble regulatory best practice. The article also considers whether greater fidelity by the FIRB to principles of good governance could better serve Australia’s broad policy interests and reduce Chinese perceptions of an opaque and discriminatory foreign investment regime.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874068

 

5. The changing US–China investment relationship

Daniel H. Rosen & Thilo Hanemann

Pages 84-102

Abstract: The United States and China are at a turning point in their investment relationship. China’s previous investments in the United States were predominantly in government securities, while other holdings were negligible. Recently, the accumulation of treasury securities has slowed and direct investments by Chinese firms have risen steeply, with Beijing signaling greater support for portfolio investment outflows as well. This article describes the nascent shift in patterns of Chinese investment in the United States and uses the case of direct investment to examine the implications for US–China relations. We discuss current and future policy issues presented by Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States, including national security, market access, and antitrust.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874071

 

6. China’s direct investment in the European Union: challenges and policy responses

Françoise Nicolas

Pages 103-125

Abstract: The dramatic rise of Chinese direct investment into the European Union (EU) has sparked a debate about the control that China may be seeking to take over European economies. Quite naturally, these concerns have led to repeated calls that action be taken to slow down, if not to halt entirely, this growing trend. The objective of the article is to shed light on this debate. Following a thorough analysis of Chinese direct investment in the EU, this article suggests that the challenges posed by these inflows are widely overblown. Despite this, the article concludes that it is necessary to have a systematic approach to regulating inbound foreign investment (including from China) in the EU. Such an approach may help guard against the risk of a protectionist drift inside the EU, as well as the possibility that some investors may one day pose a threat to national security. This article concludes that although the current fragmented regulatory approach is unsatisfactory, because of the difficulties associated with a unified EU-wide review process, the most realistic option is to promote a more systematic and coordinated use of existing mechanisms such as competition policy. Also, pushing for the negotiation of a China–EU BIT is certainly a promising avenue to enhance the EU’s bargaining leverage based on the principle of positive reciprocity.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874070

 

7. A new context for managing overseas direct investment by Chinese state-owned enterprises

Shuping Liao & Yongsheng Zhang

Pages 126-140

Abstract: Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their overseas direct investment (ODI) have played an important role in China’s economic development. But the rapid expansion of SOE-dominated ODI has also raised concerns, including about state capitalism and the need for competitive neutrality. This paper considers China’s strategy for managing ODI by its SOEs given a changing context. On the one hand, the Chinese economy is rapidly growing and will soon become the largest economy in the world. China’s role in the world, as well as its global responsibility, is therefore changing. China needs to establish a win-win and harmonious relationship with the rest of the world, and ODI has a role to play in this. On the other hand, China’s growth model is shifting to become greener, more balanced, and innovation-driven. China’s changing international role and the changing growth model have created new imperatives for, and constraints on, ODI by SOEs and reforms to SOEs. This paper aims to examine ODI by Chinese SOEs from the two dimensions of China’s changing role and growth model. It discusses strategies for better managing ODI by Chinese SOEs in the new context that is emerging.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874074

 

8. China’s regulatory framework for outward foreign direct investment

Karl P. Sauvant & Victor Zitian Chen

Pages 141-163

Abstract: China has become the world’s third largest outward investor, behind the United States and Japan. A growing body of literature suggests that China’s regulatory framework for outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is a determinant of the country’s rising OFDI. This article presents a holistic review of that framework, including some possibilities for its improvement. Overall, China’s framework serves two objectives: to help Chinese firms become more competitive internationally and to assist the country in its development effort. In pursuing these objectives, the regulatory framework has moved from restricting, to facilitating, to supporting, to encouraging OFDI, but there are still strong elements of administrative control that make it cumbersome. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) seem to benefit particularly from the current framework when internationalizing through FDI.

Link to the original text:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538963.2013.874072