China’s national oil companies going global and coming home: State–firm nexus, global financial networks, and geopolitical risks

Abstract

Both the “going global” strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative have prompted Chinese companies to carry out overseas investment and global financing. China’s three major national oil companies (NOCs), China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have pursued “modernization through globalization” while balancing profitability and national energy security. This paper attempts to shed some light on NOCs’ going global process by integrating global production networks’ (GPNs) extra-firm (state–firm) relations and global financial networks’ (GFNs) emphasis on world cities and financial and advanced business services providers. Going global, however, has also increased NOCs’ geopolitical risks, resulting in a retreat from the financial centers of world cities and a return home. This paper contributes to the GPN/GFN literature by examining the interactions between lead firms from developing economies and extra-firm actors while also emphasizing the increasing significance of geopolitical risks.