191114 - Seller Beware? Chinese Direct Investment and Political Challenges in the European Union

Seminar "Seller Beware? Chinese Direct Investment and Political Challenges in the European Union*" (PDF, 37 Ko)

Thursday 14 November 2019, 12.30-2.30 pm, Sciences Po, Room S1, Entrance B, 2^nd Floor, 28 rue des Saints-Pères, 75007 Paris

From a non-existent player fifteen years ago, China has now become one of the largest senders of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows in the world. By and large, this new provenance of capital has been welcomed by host countries, especially given the drop in other sources of FDI in the wake of the American financial crisis and Euro crisis in the late 2000s. The exponential growth of Chinese direct investment, however, has also been accompanied in some cases by controversy and even resistance, both in developing and in developed economies. In some countries of the European Union (EU), critics have expressed fears and denounced some of the potential dangers of this investment, such as lowering of local labor standards, hollowing out of industrial core through repatriation of assets, and acquisition of dual use technology. The ensuing political backlash has received considerable media attention and increased scrutiny over subsequent deals, notably through the tightening of inbound FDI screening procedures. In other EU countries, however, Chinese FDI has been received with open arms and host countries have become advocates for Chinese interests inside the EU. This talk explores the political challenges posed by the recent explosion of Chinese direct investment in the European Union. First, it considers two alternative explanations for these peculiar political challenges. Second, it explores the implications of these challenges on European unity and policies.

Speaker: Sophie Meunier, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Sophie Meunier is also co-Director of the EU Program at Princeton. She is the author of Trading Voices: The European Union in International Commercial Negotiations (Princeton University Press, 2005) and The French Challenge: Adapting to Globalization (Brookings Institution Press, 2001), winner of the 2002 France-Ameriques book award. She is co-editor of several books on Europe and globalization, most recently The Politics of Interest Representation in the Global Age (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and Speaking with a Single Voice: The EU as an Effective Actor in Global Governance? (Routledge, 2015). Her current work deals with the politics of Foreign Direct Investment in Europe, notably Chinese investment. She was made Chevalier des Palmes Academiques by the French Government.

Discussion: Richard Balme, Sciences Po, CEE

*Key Theme: The transformations of capitalism

Compulsory registration - For the external people to Sciences Po: You will have to arrive 10 minutes before the beginning of the seminar and to provide you with your identity papers)

Contact: katia.rio@sciencespo.fr