Many Australian and international commentators have expressed deep concern about the expansion of Chinese corporations overseas. They are especially suspicious of Chinese firms being utilized as tools to promote Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in ways that undermine the “rules-based” democratic order. My presentation will demonstrate that the influence of the CCP over Chinese business corporations is surprisingly limited, due to the complex and fragmentary structure of the Chinese political ecosystem. Rather than viewing Chinese corporations as subservient tools of a CCP-led authoritarian hierarchy, we should recognize their capacity to act as autonomous agents within the fragmented corporate-political ecosystem – frequently pursuing their own interests in ways that subvert Communist Party policies. This revised understanding should foster a more nuanced and effective engagement between “Western” nations and the Chinese government.

About the Speaker

Dr. Colin Hawes is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney, Australia, teaching Corporate Law, Asian Law, and Chinese Business Law. He has an LL.B. and a Ph.D. in Chinese studies from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and a B.A. Hons. from the University of Durham, UK. He also studied Chinese language and culture at People’s University in Beijing and Wuhan University. He has published widely on Chinese corporations, law, and culture, including three books, the latest of which is The Chinese Corporate Ecosystem (Cambridge University Press, 2022; paperback edition 2023).

The ANU China Seminar Series is supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.