Multiscalar Industrial Strategies and Variegated Foreign Investment in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) enables investment from outside of Global North, such as the Gulf countries and Latin America, to enter the Chinese market. China’s local governments play an important role in facilitating FDI by new actors. This research uses a case study of three Turkish companies to explore the motivations of companies from developing countries to localize their operations in China, and the motivations for local officials to diversify their FDI portfolios. The results show that local governments are significantly more receptive to investments by developing countries due to inter-regional rivalry within China. The central government’s strategy of prioritizing high-technology industries works against developing countries, as their investments usually come from low-technology heavy industry companies. Turkish companies feel unwelcome by local governments except for the relatively large size of the capital they bring in. The findings demonstrate the transnational relations of China’s local governments and contribute to the multiscalar analysis of the spatialization of industrial strategies in Global Production Networks.