Different cases,different faces: Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe

Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is booming. As China’s investment pattern has emerged so far, it appears to have little to do with Chinese firms’ preferences for liberal policy regimes, tolerance for corruption, or reliance on communist-era networks. This article documents the current size and shape of Chinese firms’ efforts to internationalize in this economic space, demonstrating an important difference between Chinese investment behavior in CEE and in the EU-15, namely the region’s much more active use of greenfield activity (and lighter use of M&A and strategic alliances). Case studies of each mode (greenfield, M&A, and strategic alliances) reveal little evidence of a “China, Inc.” approach and much evidence that Chinese firms are more motivated by market access than by technology or management assistance.