Chinese Capitalism Research Articles

Risk and Benefit Analysis of China’s Foreign Direct Investment in the Energy Sector: Case Study of the Belt and Road Initiative

Since 2011, China has been the world's largest energy consumer. The industrial sector uses two-thirds of the energy consumed in China. The main reason for investment in energy is that China is a net importer of energy, especially oil. The impact of Chinese foreign investments and the energy sector, which is the largest of the individual sectors, are the main subjects of the analysis of the presented paper. In the paper, we used the WoS viewer program to perform a bibliometric analysis of authors, countries, and keywords that deal with FDI. Subsequently, we used various scientific methods, such as the method of observation, method analysis, synthesis, comparison, exploration and explanation, to analyse Chinese investments that flow into multiple sectors worldwide, but especially into the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and into the energy sector from 2013 to the present. As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, China invests in various projects in the form of "loans" and, in many cases, creates debt traps that allow China to seize the assets of participating countries. In this paper, we focused on the energy sector and its development so far within the given initiative, and we also defined what the initiative should focus on within renewable resources. China's energy investments include oil, hydropower, alternative energy, natural gas, and coal. The sharp drop in Chinese investment after 2019 was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To conclude, although energy has remained China's primary sector for investment within the BRI regions, Chinese capital has gradually diversified into sectors such as transportation, real estate, technology and innovation, and tourism.

Location dynamics of coworking spaces in China: insights from Beijing metropolitan

ABSTRACT This paper explores the location determinants of coworking spaces (CSs) in the Chinese capital of Beijing, thus filling the gap in the literature about CS location in urban China. The study applies a count data model (CDM) to the data collected in 2022 to answer three research questions: (1) Where are CSs located and what are the location determinants? (2) How does Beijing’s urban structure affect CS location determinants? (3) What role do creative industry specialisation, variety, government facilities and incentives play in CS location? The findings reveal that CSs in Beijing – most of them promoted by public authorities – tend to cluster in the central city where there is a high diversity of knowledge-intensive and creative industries. The semi-polycentric urban structure of Beijing affects the location of CSs by creating localised activity hubs. Furthermore, the study finds evidence that creative industry specialisation and variety are crucial factors in CS location. In addition, government facilities and incentives play a key role in driving their locations.

China's Infrastructural Capitalism and Infrastructural Power of Labor: The Making of the Chinese Working Class

This article anticipates a political project that underlines China's infrastructural capitalism and the infrastructural power of labor in the making of the Chinese working class. This project embarks a re‐departure of the left movement after the Jasic struggle, which inspired a rebirth of global Marxism and Maoism that attempts to confront the failure of the first wave of socialist movements and the neoliberal turn of global capitalism. Meeting this historical conjuncture, this project is situated in the legacy of the Chinese Revolution and its firmly held belief in the class struggles of the working masses who fought for a vision of communism since the early 1920s. As part of a global project in preparation for the new wave of emancipatory movements, this project is also located in a global anti‐capitalism movement and attempts to overcome the parochial and nationalistic approach of existing Chinese Marxism. Specifically, the author conceives that Chinese capitalism has entered a new age of monopoly supported not only by new phases of high technology but also, more importantly, by state power in constructing infrastructural bases such as building projects, new economic zones, highways and high‐speed railways, digital platforms, and logistics, both internally and externally, to reproduce expanded capitalism, resulting in fierce imperial battles among global powers. The article conceptualizes this historical process not only as “infrastructural capitalism,” a term that vividly embodies the materiality of expanded capitalism, but also the infrastructural power of labor to take root.

ESG RATING AND BANK FINANCING — EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE CHINESE CAPITAL MARKET

This study examines how banks perceive companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Using a sample of Chinese listed corporations for the period 2009–2019, we find that banks value the ESG performance of emerging market companies. The higher a company’s ESG rating, the more likely it is to receive a loan. Moreover, it is easier to obtain long-term bank loans with a lower cost. Compared with state-owned enterprises (SOEs), ESG rating among private companies is more helpful for enterprises to obtain bank loans. Additionally, the positive effect of an ESG rating on obtaining bank loans is stronger in regions with greater banking competition landscape.

The Archaeological Interpretation of the Determining Criteria and Developmental Path of Chinese Civilization

The research findings of the project of tracing the origins of Chinese civilization substantiate China’s million years of human history, 10,000-plus years of cultural history, and 5,000-plus years of civilizational history. Cities and capitals have been the foremost tangible embodiment throughout the formation and development of Chinese civilization. By examining the sites of ancient Chinese capitals and palaces, noting the transition from “shrines side by side with palaces” to “the imperial ancestral shrine on the left and the altar to the gods of earth and grain on the right,” and observing the evolution from “dual axis” to “central axis” in city planning, we can delve into the cultural genes that have shaped the development of Chinese civilization. Throughout history, China’s first inhabitants and their descendants have forged strong traditions of ancestral identification, the unity and commensurability of family and state, and identification with the state. Characterized by powerful cohesiveness and inclusiveness, these traditions form the subtly ingrained and daily practiced cultural genes of Chinese civilization. They are the fundamental reasons behind the enduring continuity of Chinese civilization for over 5,000 years.

Logistical fixes and China’s spatial division of logistics integration - in search of economic rebalancing?

ABSTRACTThis article analytically foregrounds the role of logistics, infrastructure, and the transformation of capitalist circulation as an integral component of Chinese capitalism’s changing developmental paradigm. Based on a historical-comparative study of two developmental paradigms, the Open Door Policy (1978–2013) and New Normal (2014–2021), we argue that two layered logistical fixes have shaped Chinese capitalism, while driving unequal regional development between the coastal and inland regions. During the Open Door Policy, the initial logistical fix was centered around the coastal region as an export platform and logistical hub. Consequently, networked spaces of capital accumulation were formed based on the transfer of raw materials and intermediary inputs from the inland to the coastal region, followed by their processing into marketable commodities valorized in global export markets. Following China’s transition to the New Normal, the emergence of a new spatial division of labor between the coastal and inland regions necessitated a new logistical fix. This new logistical fix is notably centered around the inland region as a logistical hub, from which capital circulation and infrastructural linkages with neighboring Asian and coastal regions are being built.

베버의 유교사회론과 중국자본주의불가론에 대한 일(一)고찰

베버의 유교사회론과 중국자본주의불가론에 대한 일(一)고찰

Portfolio Optimization for New Energy Sector in the Chinese Capital Market

Portfolio optimization is now playing a key role in the financial sector, investors turn to portfolio optimization to make trade-offs between the expected return and risk. Based on the background of the rapid development of new energy in China. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an asset allocation analysis in the field of the new energy sector. This paper selected nine representative companies from the sector, then this paper analyzed the asset portfolio weights using a mean-variance model, and conducted portfolio tests using real data to obtain the cumulative portfolio returns. The results show that BYD accounts for the largest share in both the maximum Sharpe ratio model and the minimum variance model. And besides, the evaluation of the portfolio weights shows that the maximum Sharpe ratio model performs best. These findings can be used as a reference for investors who are interested in the new energy sector.

From Loan-Financed to Privatised Infrastructure? Tracing China's Turn Towards Public–Private Partnerships in Africa

Waning debt sustainability has challenged the debt-financed, infrastructure-led global expansion of Chinese capital. This article traces the gradual shift in the financial governance of the Belt and Road Initiative towards public–private partnerships (PPPs). We first document China's domestic PPP experience and its failure to check the unsustainable indebtedness of sub-national governments. We then conceptualise China's “turn” towards PPPs in Africa as an attempt at “metagoverning” its current growth model. Analysing official Chinese sources, we discern dominant Chinese narratives that present PPPs as panaceas for African debt problems. However, Chinese risk perceptions and empirical examples, such as the Nairobi Expressway, the Tanzania–Zambia Railway, and the Congolese Kolwezi–Kasumbalesa toll road, reveal that China's experimentation with PPPs in Africa engenders new challenges, including popular contestation, controversies over financial terms and corruption. Furthermore, contrary to the official Chinese narrative, profit imperatives behind PPP investments and potential financial complications that were widespread in China's domestic PPP experience risk adding to the financial burdens of African governments and populations.

How Chinese Capital Exacerbates Structural Violence: Externalization, Extraction, and Reaffirmation against Ethnic Minorities in the Global South

Abstract: How does Chinese capital exacerbate structural violence against ethnic minorities in host countries? While a growing number of works examine the effects of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and non-BRI Chinese projects, these works focus on economic effects, political impacts, or negative socioenvironmental ramifications on communities. However, there has yet to be work on the specific relationship between Chinese capital and ethnic relations in the host country. In the form of major BRI and non-BRI projects, we suggest that Chinese capital acts as an external stimulus that gives ethnic coalitions, which often comprise host country elites who represent the majority ethnic groups, the power to design and finance large-scale ventures. We argue that three mechanisms, particularly externalization, extraction, and reaffirmation, exacerbate structural violence against ethnic minorities. Through field research, analysis of government documents, and literature review, the cases of the Philippines, Pakistan, and Myanmar illustrate our argument. The shadow case of Xinjiang strengthens our argument as well.

The revenge of multiplicity: Chinese capitalism under systemic competition

The re-emergence of conflict at the apex of the global political economy between the United States and China makes it imperative to establish analytical connections between geopolitics and national political-economic development trajectories. However, just as realist international relations conceals ‘domestic’ causes of international conflict, most comparative capitalisms (CC) research has systematically underplayed the role of geopolitics and the global political economy as forces structuring and driving national economies. Furthermore, both IR and CC analyses misleadingly treat states as analogous and independent ‘units’, rather than relationally constituted and internally heterogenous political forms whose existence and reproduction requires explanation. As such, CC fails to examine either the geopolitical preconditions for, constitution of, or the geopolitical outcomes of growth models. This article presents an uneven and combined development (U&CD) account of the connections between global order, geopolitical economy and Chinese capitalism, showing how – rather than an alien infiltrator – Chinese state capitalism is both a product, and increasingly a transmitter, of the dynamics of competitive capital accumulation operating in the global political economy. In this way, I contribute to the development of heterodox CC literature by advancing i) a conception of capitalism as a geopolitical-economic system, (ii) an example of how national cases can be treated as dialectically related to and sites for the emergence of the global geopolitical economy, and (iii) a concise application of this method to the case of Sino-US relations.

Practicing conjunctural methodologies: Engaging Chinese capitalism

Conjunctural analysis is a rather enigmatic practice, observed mostly after the fact and in feats of exemplary execution, apparently somewhat resistant to codification, and maybe too modish for methodological rules. Predicated on the analysis of politically salient ‘situations’, conjunctural approaches combine reflexive theorizing with socially engaged inquiry and context-rich, historicized modes of analysis. Exploring the potential of conjunctural analysis in economic geography, the article moves first to tease out the methodological implications of this rather elusive approach, including: attention to complex states of causal codetermination, ‘in articulation’; an orientation to relational and ‘unbounded’ modes of inquiry; an emphasis on the stress-testing of received theory claims and conceptual categories, often in anomalous (as opposed to ‘typical’) situations; and a commitment to reflexivity, context-engaged analysis, and ‘thick’ theorization. Second, the article interrogates these methodological dispositions and propositions by placing them in dialogue, indicatively, with the case of Chinese capitalism. This is a case that routinely frustrates and confounds extant theoretical frameworks and conceptual categories, sometimes prompting theoretical defeatism. Although conjunctural analysis is not methodologically prescriptive, it implies distinctive criteria for problem formulation and research design; for ‘casing’, case selection, and specification; and for the exposition and (re)construction of contextualized theory claims.

Research on the Investment Value of Hybrid Funds in the Chinese Capital Market based on Factor Analysis

Factor analysis is a cutting-edge and effective data processing method that has a wide range of uses in the field of finance, as it can reduce the numerous indicators in finance into a few valid common factors in the form of factor analysis. The researcher can name the factors by the percentage contribution of each variable in the different factors. After that, the scores of financial products (e.g., stocks, funds) on different factors give a clear picture of how well the product performs in these aspects. The main research direction of this paper is to reduce the dimensionality of each index of hybrid funds in the Chinese fund market through the factor analysis technique to get reasonable public factors. And to rank these funds with factor scores to get the best funds among these ninety hybrid funds to make recommendations for investors. Finally, this paper successfully selects four excellent hybrid funds, which have excellent performance in terms of size, earnings, and debt-servicing ability, which can provide some reasonable suggestions for investors who want to invest in Chinese hybrid funds.

The Forbidden City in view - The photographic activity of foreign photographers of the Late Qing Dynasty in China

The article examines the photographic activity of foreign photographers during the late Qing Dynasty in China and analyzes their work in the context of historical material. The author explores the metaphor of the camera as it entered China and how the photographic activity of foreign photographers represented the colonial conquest of the Forbidden City.Since the Second Opium War in 1860, photography has served as a documentary tool, following the sounds of colonial invaders' guns as they sought to capture and control the Chinese capital. Forty years later, in 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the camera of a foreign photographer literally penetrated the Forbidden City, the former center of imperial power, revealing to the world the intricacies of the mysterious device and the turmoil of its capture by the allies.The use of photography in this context took on a dual aesthetic and political character, documenting the view of the Forbidden City while discrediting the attributes of imperial power. The author concludes that, in addition to its ability to document foreign landscapes, photography often acquired political significance during invasion. Thus, the author argues that photography's development in China during the late Qing period is inseparable from colonial and invasion activities and that photography constructed power relations while also showing the world a mysterious and declining China. The photography of the Forbidden City gives full expression to the conquest of the center of Chinese power.

Chinese Capital Market Yearbook 2022

Chinese Capital Market Yearbook 2022

In the Face of Instability and Marginalisation in a Gendered Craft Industry: Self-Realisation and Resilience of the Self-employed Craftswomen in Jingdezhen, China

Through a four-month ethnographic study from May to August 2020 in Jingdezhen, the Chinese capital of porcelain, I investigated the self-employment practice and work-and-lifestyles of the female craft workers. Despite the increasing presence of female self-employed craft workers in Jingdezhen in the recent decade, its local ceramic labor distribution continues to be gendered. This study incorporated a variety of qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, participant observations and diary method. Despite the self-realization of female craft workers in Jingdezhen through self-employed craft work, I firstly highlight the instability embedded in their craft work, marginalization of craftswomen’s roles and works and self￾doubtfulness on creativity. I argue that the frequent critiques of craftswomen’s ceramic works have generalized them as being domestic and feminine and ignored their diverse skills, aesthetics, and artistic dispositions. I also suggest that such generalization has further marginalized ‘femininity’ in ceramic cultures and productions. Secondly, I recognize the difficulties that the craftswomen have encountered in non-workplaces and the pressures from family and social expectations and argue that the allegedly ‘work and life balance challenge’ set for women overshadows their compromises and sacrifices in their craft journey. By showcasing my interlocutors’ ‘minor’ feelings and reflecting on my own fieldwork experience, I reveal a gendered power relationship in personal interactions at an everyday level continued to exist in Jingdezhen’s craft world. I finally argue that while self-employment and craft are empowering practices and have offered the craftswomen opportunities to fulfill their potentials, independent craftswomen in Jingdezhen still suffer from instability, marginalization, societal expectations, daily disrespect in the local male-dominated industrial context. Meanwhile, I showcase their resilience against this background by demonstrating how they negotiate these difficulties and pressures.

Green silk roads, partner state development, and environmental governance: Belt and road infrastructure on the Sino-East African frontier

ABSTRACT China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is reorienting global development. Few scholars, however, query relationships between green silk road discourse, BRI infrastructure, partner state development goals, and environmental governance. This article details the roots of green silk road discourse in efforts to environmentally engineer China's desert landscapes. Much like large-scale nature-based infrastructure projects in China, BRI infrastructure projects abroad precipitate a range of socioeconomic and environmental outcomes. Through juxtaposing terrestrial infrastructure development in Ethiopia with maritime infrastructure development in Djibouti, the article demonstrates how different types of BRI infrastructure projects shape environmental governance and advance the development agendas of partner countries. Sugar plantations, roads, railways, and energy infrastructure in Ethiopia further Ethiopian state development plans while transforming Indigenous people's relations to their land and livelihoods. In Djibouti, port infrastructure and military bases figure centrally in strategic rentiership for the Djiboutian state with ancillary effects on fisheries and international trade. The article illustrates how relative articulations between East African central government development interests, environmental governance, and infrastructure are mediated by varieties of Chinese capital. The comparative analysis disrupts simplistic narratives of “win-win” partnerships and “China as threat” to partner state autonomy.

Foreign direct investments in the BRICS countries and internationalization of Chinese capital

This article aims to analyze the economic integration of the BRICS countries through foreign direct investments (FDI) since the first summit of the group in 2009. The investigation shows that this integration is very asymmetric due to the preponderance of Chinese investments in other BRICS countries. Hence, the paper sets an associated objective, focusing on the evaluation of diverse patterns of internationalization of Chinese capital and its impact on the investments within the bloc. In line with these goals, the paper’s methodology involves several progressive steps. First of all, we are developing a data analysis of FDI in BRICS. Given the absolute dominance of China’s investments within the bloc, we are shifting the focus to these Chinese outward foreign direct investments (OFDI). In order to cope with this requirement, we are promoting qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis consists in the perception of heterogenous motivations that induce the internationalization of Chinese capital through examining the strategies of three groups of economic agents in China: (1) state-owned enterprises (SOE) operating in traditional sectors, (2) big companies preponderantly oriented on the domestic market, and (3) technology-based companies. The quantitative analysis lies in the scrutiny of the available data on Chinese investments in other BRICS countries. As a result, the main contribution of this article lies in the characterization of heterogeneous strategies of the internationalization of Chinese capital and their analysis within the framework of the asymmetric productive integration within BRICS.

Incidence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella serovars in fresh retail aquatic products from China

Infections due to aquatic products that are contaminated with Salmonella spp. are great risks to public health, however, epidemiological information and risk factors regarding these Salmonella contamianted food are limited in China. The study aimed to examine the incidence of Salmonella spp. in fresh aquatic products in China, and the MLST patterns and antimicrobial-resistance profiles of the Salmonella isolates identified. Out of the 300 aquatic food samples purchased from retail markets in 15 provincial Chinese capitals during 2015.6–2016.6, sixteen (5.3%) were found to be positive for Salmonella spp. and fifteen distinct serovars were detected. Clinically-important serovars predominated the isolates recovered, with almost all other identified serovars also implicated in human diseases. Antimicrobial susceptibility analysis of the 18 non-repetitive isolates showed that 14 isolates (77.8%) present drug resistance and seven isolates (38.9%) showed multidrug resistance phenotypes. High frequencies of resistance to streptomycin (66.7%), ampicillin (38.9%), and tetracycline (33.3%) were observed. Of particular concern, 22.2% of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin. The incidence of Salmonella serovars in the retail aquatic products and their high antimicrobial-resistance frequencies could constitute potential risks to public health. This study is valuable for supporting risk assessment, epidemiological investigation, and disease prevention.

Urban‐Rural Gradient in Urban Heat Island Variations Responsive to Large‐Scale Human Activity Changes During Chinese New Year Holiday

AbstractLarge‐scale human activity changes in megacities during Chinese New Year (CNY) are believed to significantly affect urban heat islands (UHIs). However, the urban‐rural gradient in UHI variations responsive to human activity changes in cities remains largely unclear. Using in‐situ surface air temperature obtained from a meteorological network that includes 3000‐plus stations, we show that the mean UHI intensity (UHII) in 31 Chinese capitals is 0.52 ± 0.23 K during the CNY holiday and 0.77 ± 0.29 K in the reference period, indicating a UHII reduction of 0.25 ± 0.20 K during the holiday. The reduced UHII decreased more from city core (0.54 K) to city periphery (0.071 K). We find that these UHII reductions were larger at night than during the day and were larger in northern subtropical and warm temperate climates than in other climates. These UHII reductions were mainly attributable to the decline in anthropogenic heat release.