China's Regulatory Framework for Outward Foreign Direct Investment
China Economic Journal, 7(1), 141-163
36 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2013 Last revised: 22 Feb 2018
Date Written: November 6, 2013
Abstract
China has become the world’s third largest outward investor, behind the United States and Japan. A growing body of literature suggests that China’s regulatory framework for outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is a determinant of the country’s rising OFDI. This paper presents a holistic review of that framework, including some possibilities for its improvement. Overall, China’s framework serves two objectives: to help Chinese firms become more competitive internationally and to assist the country in its development effort. In pursuing these objectives, the regulatory framework has moved from restricting, to facilitating, to supporting, to encouraging OFDI; but there are still strong elements of administrative control that make it cumbersome. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) seem to benefit particularly from the current framework when internationalizing through FDI.
Keywords: China, outward foreign direct investment, OFDI, formal institutions, government
JEL Classification: F21, F23, F31, F65, G18, G28, G38, H1, H2, H3, K2, K3, M16, P33
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