Global perspectives on Chinese investment

This chapter introduces some of the more influential academic studies on Chinese investment abroad, including the existing quantitative literature on Chinese outbound direct investment (ODI). It introduces a case study from Australia involving state-owned mining conglomerate Chinalco, and the fallout from its failed bid for a share in Rio Tinto. The study confounds many of the stereotypes about the behaviour of the Chinese central state. The chapter goes on to suggest frameworks developed in the study of China's domestic political economy that may be useful in analyzing the behaviour of Chinese state and non-state actors abroad. Such frameworks can help in understanding how Chinese investors develop informal institutions, and make use of existing formal institutions, to "get things done" in unfamiliar investment environments.