“Going Global Strategy” and Global Talent

Abstract

China’s entrance into the WTO in 2001 and the increasingly fierce competition on its domestic market among companies has made going global an increasingly attractive strategy for many Chinese companies. By doing so, they can make full use of the resources available on the world economy to better tap into external markets. In 2000, the Chinese Government first framed the Going Global Strategy for firms in China, making the outward expansion of business enterprises a major strategic initiative for the future economic development of the country. In the following decade and a half, Chinese companies have taken huge strides in doing outbound investment. In 2014, Chinese outbound investment totaled $116 billion, up by 15.5% over the previous year. According to the Ministry of Commerce, factoring in the investment made by Chinese firms through third parties raises the figure for Chinese overseas direct investment (ODI) to $140 billion. This extraordinarily rapid growth in investment outflows has made China one of the three biggest countries in the world for ODI and, for the first time in its history, a net outbound foreign investor.¹