Chinese Dragons Disembarking in Latin America

Abstract

Since the start of the reforms by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 the world’s economy has witnessed two major changes about China. The first change was the opening of the economy to foreign capital, which made China one of the largest recipients of foreign direct investment in the twenty-first century and transformed the country in what is now known as ‘the factory of the world’. The second change was the international expansion of Chinese companies first into developed economies and then also into emerging markets, which is transforming China’s firms (dubbed the Chinese Dragons by many commentators) into global players.

The capabilities to succeed in emerging markets will be decisive in the next round of global competition.