Critical Issues Confronting China
How Rising Geopolitical Tensions are Impacting Chinese Firms Overseas
featuring
Ji Li, John & Marilyn Long Professor of US-China
Business and Law, University of California - Irvine
with
William C. Kirby, Spangler Family Professor of Business
Administration, Harvard Business School
and moderated by
Mark Wu, Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law, Harvard Law School;
Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
February 7, 2024
In the first edition of this semester’s Critical Issues Confronting China series, Professor Ji Li discusses the behavior of Chinese multinational corporations in the face of geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and China. He highlights the differences between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs), noting that SOEs prioritize compliance with Chinese regulations and are subject to extensive regulation by the state, while POEs prioritize profit maximization and adapt to the local institutional context. Li also discusses the coping strategies of Chinese multinational corporations, including lobbying, compliance, and litigation. Professor William C. Kirby notes that current tensions between the U.S. and China have led to a decline in U.S. openness to foreign investment, which may have long-term consequences for American economic power.