Abstract
ABSTRACTThe expansion of ‘Greater Chinese’ capital from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan into other parts of the developing world is increasingly noted. It is especially prominent in sub‐Saharan Africa where Greater Chinese investments, firms and workers are found across a wide range of activities, from the extractive commodity sectors, to infrastructure projects, agriculture and manufacturing. One region where Greater Chinese investment is less well studied is the Middle East. This article focuses on the case of Jordan. Jordan has rapidly emerged as an important supplier of apparel to the United States, a consequence of a distinct preferential trade agreement. The article charts the ways in which this preferential trade agreement has stimulated the shifts of Greater Chinese garment manufacturers to Jordan. Using a global production networks (GPN) framework, and drawing on primary and secondary evidence, it assesses the dynamics behind Greater Chinese investments into Jordan; it also explores the ways in which Greater Chinese garment producers operating in Jordan organize their supply chains and are linked into the global garments GPNs. Finally, it considers the relationship between such capital flows and the influx of Asian migrant workers into the Jordanian export garment sector.
Highlights
The entry of ‘Greater Chinese’ investors into other parts of the developing world has been well documented (Henderson and Nadvi, 2011; Kaplinsky and Messner, 2008; Williamson and Zeng, 2009; Yeung, 2004; Brautigam, 2009)
Of new manufacturing locations for Chinese producers. This latter motivation is often spurred by market access trade preferences provided by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) to low-income developing countries to promote the growth of their manufacturing industries
This experience is not representative of the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, but a unique case study that has emerged as a consequence of a particular set of geopolitical alignments that have created a space for such forms of Greater Chinese involvement
Summary
The entry of ‘Greater Chinese’ investors (from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) into other parts of the developing world has been well documented (Henderson and Nadvi, 2011; Kaplinsky and Messner, 2008; Williamson and Zeng, 2009; Yeung, 2004; Brautigam, 2009). Private Greater Chinese firms are moving to the region: one example is Greater Chinese investments in the so-called Qualifying Industrial Zones of Jordan and Egypt The arrival of these firms is a direct consequence of the preferential access to the US market offered through a unique trade arrangement. This article investigates the flows of Greater Chinese capital into the Jordanian export garment sector This experience is not representative of the wider MENA region, but a unique case study that has emerged as a consequence of a particular set of geopolitical alignments that have created a space for such forms of Greater Chinese involvement. The paper considers the implications for labour as a consequence of the QIZ, before offering some conclusions
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