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Abstract
Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become an important source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in resource-rich countries. Their expansion has stirred a debate in the Western hemisphere about the ability of SOEs to challenge liberal economic practices and to alter domestic governance in the countries where they invest. This paper contributes to this debate by examining the case of Chinese SOE investment in the Canadian hydrocarbon sector. It uses insights from the literature on the world order, international business, and international relations to examine the impact of SOE investment on a host country in the Western hemisphere. As I argue, the Canadian response to SOE’s investment has been on the cautionary side, which opens avenues for institutional innovation that leads to stricter regulations of SOEs’ FDI. As I propose, stricter regulations can be reinterpreted as an attempt to support liberal economic practices, yet may unintentionally have the opposite effect.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Scholars find other issues related to Chinese FDI that have not been mentioned in this paper, such as their inefficient operations (Chen Citation2013) and low regulatory standards (Shankleman Citation2009).
2 For more information about the intricacies of the ties between Chinese state and corporations see the case of Anbang’s investment in Canadian retirement homes that were nationalized after the private company declared bankruptcy.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Anastasia Ufimtseva
Anastasia Ufimtseva is a post-doctoral fellow at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. She obtained a PhD in Global Governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University. She holds an MA degree in Political Science from the University of Waterloo and a BA degree (honours) from the University of British Columbia. Anastasia’s doctoral dissertation examined Chinese FDI in the hydrocarbon sector of Russia and Canada.