Clash or Convergence of Capitalisms: Property Conflicts over Chinese Direct Investments in Germany and the European Union

Outline

This project aims to analyse ownership conflicts arising from Chinese direct investments in Germany and the EU. The expansion of Chinese corporations, which are heavily controlled and (partially) owned by the Chinese state, invites responses from industrial policymakers and especially those in Germany. The project uses a mixed-methods design to investigate acquisitions within the German metal and electronics industries, alongside paradigmatic case studies of direct investments that have shaped industrial policy in Germany and across the EU.

A network analysis examines the ownership structures of Chinese corporate networks and investments, while an accompanying policy analysis focuses on the ‘Industry Strategy 2030’.

Project activities

Publications

Academic publications
  • Schmalz, S.; Schneidemesser, L., Xu, H. (2024): “An Emerging China-Threat-Corporatism? CRRC’s Acquisition of a German Locomotive Company and Its Impact on Labour Relations”, In: European Journal of Industrial Relations, online first, https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801231226421.
  • Köncke, P.; De Graaff, N. (2024): “Chinese Multinationals and Europe’s Geoeconomic Turn: De-globalization of the Chinese ICT and Automotive Industry?”, In: Politics and Governance 12, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.8195 (accepted, forthcoming)
  • Köncke, P.; Schmalz, S. (2024): “The World-System of Vaccine Distribution. Global Inequalities and Geopolitical Conflicts During the COVID-19 Pandemic”, In: Journal of World-Systems Research 30(1), 195-222, https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2024.1173
  • Peters, F.; Rinne, J.; Saalfeld, R.; Schmalz, S.; Stuart, A.; von der Weth, L. (2024): “Eigentumskonflikte: Eine Typologie”, SFB 294 Working Paper No. 5, https://sfb294-eigentum.de/de/publikationen/working-paper/#paper-nr-5
  • Gräf, H.; Schmalz, S. (2023): “Avoiding the China shock: How Chinese state-backed internationalization drives changes in European economic governance”, In: Competition and Change, online first: https://doi.org/10.1177/10245294231207990.
  • Erlbacher, L.; Schmalz, S. (2023): “Chinese Perspectives on the US-China Rivalry: Navigating Geo-economic and Technological Tensions in a New Era of Global Statism”, In: Critical Policy Studies 17(2), 337-345, https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2023.2218463.
  • Schmalz, S. (2023): “Varianten des digitalen Kapitalismus: China und USA im Vergleich”, in: Carstensen, T.; Schaupp, S.; Sevignani, S. (Hg.): Theorien des digitalen Kapitalismus, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 285-304.
  • Köncke, P.; Simon, J. (2022) (Hg.): StaatsKapitalismus, PROKLA. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft Nr. 208.
  • Schneidemesser, L./ Butollo, F. (2022): “Alibaba’s Distribution-Centred Approach towards the Industrial Internet: A Chinese Version of Industry 4.0?”, In:  Gereffi, G.; Bamber, P.; Fernandez-Stark, K. (Hg.) China’s New Development Strategies: Moving Up and Moving Abroad in Global Value Chains, Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 61-83. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-3008-9_3
  • Schmalz, S.; Gräf, H.; Köncke, P.; Schneidemesser, L. (2022): “Umkämpfte Globalisierung: Amerikanische und europäische Reaktionen auf Chinas Aufstieg im Hochtechnologiebereich“, in: Berliner Journal für Soziolologie 32(3), S. 427–454. DOI: 10.1007/s11609-022-00481-x.
Media and podcasts

Lectures

  • Schmalz, Stefan: “Chinesische E-Auto- und Batteriehersteller als neue Wettbewerber: Industrie- und arbeitspolitische Herausforderungen“, China Briefing of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung/ Foreign Policy Working Group of the SPD Parliamentary Group, German Bundestag, Berlin (25.4.2024)
  • Schmalz, S.; Schneidemesser, L.: “What Does Chinese Direct Investment Mean for Co-Determination? A Comparative Study in the German Metal and Electronics Industry”, International Labor Process Conference, Göttingen (5.4.2024)
  • Schneidemesser, Lea: “An Emerging China Threat Corporatism? Chinese Brownfield Investments with Industrial Policy Implications”, Seminar Series “The world at present – scholars international research”, No. 14, Shanghai University, Institute of Economic Sociology and Multinationals, Shanghai (5.1.2024)
  • De Graaff, N.; Köncke, P.: “China Inc. Enters Europe: Internationalization Strategies of Chinese ICT and Automotive Companies Expanding into the European Union”, EWIS-Workshop, Amsterdam (12. bis 14.7.2023)
  • Schneidemesser, Lea: “Chinese OFDI in Europe amid Digitalization –Beyond Huawei and Tiktok, what access to data can be gained by Chinese investors in Europe?”, SASE Annual Conference 2023, Rio de Janeiro (20. bis 22.7.2023)
  • Schmalz, Stefan: “When Germany Started Questioning Chinese FDI: An Analysis of the Acquisition of a Leading German Robotics Company”, Conference “Breaking Boundaries – Chinese Companies Abroad”, The Australian National University, Canberra (29.6.2023)
  • Gräf, Helena: “Conflicts over the rise of Chinese Capitalism: The reconfiguration of economic governance in the EU”, Workshop „Germany’s Geopolitical Economy“, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto (30.09.2022)
  • Schmalz, Stefan: “Digitale Kapitalismusvarianten: China und USA im Vergleich”, DGS Congress 2022, Bielefeld, (29.9.2022)
  • Erlbacher, L.; Köncke, P.: “The Anatomy of China’s State Capitalism: Mechanisms of Party-State Influence and Degrees of State-Permeation”, REDEFINE China/Europe and the Changing Global Order Seminar Series (The Open University, UK), digital (8.9.2022)
  • Köncke, Philipp: “Mechanisms of Party-State Influence and Degrees of State-Permeation in China’s Capitalism”, SASE Annual Conference 2022, Amsterdam (10.7.2022)

List of all lectures

Events

 

Project Staff