Aspiring rule-makers: Chinese business actors in global governance

Abstract

Business actors from the global South have traditionally been marginalized in global private governance. But this may be changing. A growing number of business actors in China have become involved in global governance, with some showing an ambition to act as rule makers. What have motivated these Chinese companies? How do they go about promoting their initiatives? What is their relationship with the Chinese government in this endeavor? We explore these questions by empirically investigating two cases—the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiated by the Alibaba Group and the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) supported by the State Grid Corporation of China. We identify several areas where the Chinese experience can enrich the literature on global private governance, which has been primarily derived from studies of actors from the global North.