China's geoeconomic strategy: firms with Chinese characteristics: the role of companies in Chinese foreign policy

In recent years, Western media and governments have portrayed Chinese companies as soldiers in an economic Trojan horse, quietly buying up the world in an attempt to challenge the prevailing order. Indeed, in 2006, the Chinese government had launched a national campaign to encourage Chinese fi rms to ‘Go Global’, part of a strategy to increase China’s competitiveness and help rebalance China’s export-oriented growth model, as well as gaining political capital overseas. Chinese companies have acquired natural resources and purchased sophisticated technologies from their business partners and competitors. Meanwhile, the scope of Chinese foreign policy has expanded enormously, with its economic aspects given equal weight to Beijing’s security concerns. As a result, Chinese fi rms have become an indispensable part of China’s foreign policy making process.