Chinese Multinationals going Global: Strategies and Challenges

Over the past decade many Chinese enterprises have expanded their operations overseas, becomes substantive players in several in industries and host country. This talk will explore the strategies that these Chinese companies pursue to catch up with global industry leaders, focusing in particular on processes of learning about international business operations, and the acquisition of strategic assets overseas. It will also explore differences in these strategies between the first wave of overseas investments by state enterprises that still dominate many sectors in China, and the second wave led by private companies in a wide range of manufacturing sectors. Despite the impressive acceleration of outward investments, Chinese multinationals face considerable challenges managing their overseas operations, especially acquired business unit. The talk will thus conclude by outlining these operational and cross-cultural challenges, and discuss approaches to managing them.