Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in West Africa: Triple-Embedded Globalization

185 Pages·2017·1.367 MB·English

by  Katy N. Lam

Chinese State- Owned
Enterprises in West Africa
This book investigates the globalization process of Chinese state-o wned
enterprises (SOEs) in West Africa, primarily in Benin and Ghana, based on
ethnographical studies. It challenges the dominant vision of a powerful China
in Africa and argues that the so-c alled Chinese business advantages – the mono-
lithic Chinese state and Chinese low-c ost advantages – are not viable for sustaining
Chinese business development in the continent. Considering the Chinese SOE
globalization process in a relational approach, this book examines how the triple
embeddedness (Chinese, African and managerial) shapes the Chinese SOE glo-
balization process over time and space, in diverse dimensions and among different
entities – the Chinese state, Chinese SOEs, Chinese expatriates, the African
government, African business partners, African staff and the African society. It
illustrates that the Chinese central state has “retreated” deliberately from its SOE
globalization in Africa. The Chinese SOEs and Chinese expats are the major
actors in initiating and inventing globalization strategies, facing limited Chinese
state support and the African neopatrimonial governance and social contexts.
Besides, the personal trajectories (from expatriation to social promotion) of
Chinese SOE expats interweave with the globalization-t urn-l ocalization of their
SOEs in Africa. Rejecting the linear, static and binary vision of a powerful China
in Africa, the present study thus emphasizes power dynamics in Chinese SOE
globalization process that are organic and pluralistic. Time and local relations
are key elements that constitute real Chinese advantages for Chinese SOEs vis-
á- vis their ultimate competitors – not Western companies, but other Chinese
companies.
Katy N. Lam, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The
Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Routledge Studies on Asia in the World
Routledge Studies on Asia in the World will be an authoritative source of
knowledge on Asia studying a variety of cultural, economic, environmental,
legal, political, religious, security and social questions, addressed from an Asian
perspective. We aim to foster a deeper understanding of the domestic and
regional complexities which accompany the dynamic shifts in the global eco-
nomic, political and security landscape towards Asia and their repercussions for
the world at large. We’re looking for scholars and practitioners – Asian and
Western alike – from various social science disciplines and fi elds to engage in
testing existing models which explain such dramatic transformation and to
formulate new theories that can accommodate the specifi c political, cultural and
developmental context of Asia’s diverse societies. We welcome both monographs
and collective volumes which explore the new roles, rights and responsibilities
of Asian nations in shaping today’s interconnected and globalized world in their
own right.
The Series is advised and edited by Matthias Vanhullebusch and Ji Weidong
of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
1 C hinese State- Owned Enterprises in West Africa
Triple- embedded globalization
Katy N. Lam
Chinese State- Owned
Enterprises in West Africa
Triple- embedded globalization
Katy N. Lam
First published 2017
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Katy N. Lam
The right of Katy N. Lam to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
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ISBN: 978-1 - 138- 64042- 9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1 - 315- 63662- 7 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
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Contents
List of fi gures viii
List of tables ix
List of abbreviations x
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction: a relational approach of Chinese
SOE globalization 1
1.1 Triple embeddedness: a relational approach
of Chinese SOE globalization 3
1.2 Countries of focus: Chinese SOEs in Benin
and Ghana 7
1.3 Outline of the book 9
2 Retreat of the Chinese state: history of Chinese
SOEs in West Africa 15
2.1 Chinese SOE reform: changing relationships
with the Chinese state 16
2.2 Chinese SOEs in the construction sector in Ghana 17
2.3 Chinese SOEs in the construction sector in Benin 29
2.4 Telecommunications sector 33
2.5 Close down: Chinese SOEs in light industry 37
2.6 Conclusion: retreat of the Chinese state and globalization of Chinese
SOEs in Africa 39
3 African embeddedness and vulnerable Chinese 46
3.1 African governance context for business 47
3.2 End of the so- called Chinese business advantage 49
3.3 Learning to play the game in Benin and Ghana 55
3.4 Cultivating government relations: politicians on the top 58
vi Contents
3.5 Local embeddedness and structural roles for business
development 61
3.6 Everyday administration, everyday negotiation:
offi cials from below 63
3.7 Conclusion: toward a reconceptualization of
the real Chinese business advantages 66
4 African managers and workers: workforce localization
and becoming a paternalistic employer 72
4.1 Labor issues of China in Africa: beyond the
racialized stereotypes 72
4.2 Strategies of workforce localization of
Chinese SOEs 74
4.3 Learning to manage African workers 80
4.4 Localization of management: Ghanaian managers
in Chinese SOEs 88
4.5 Complete management localization in Chinese SOEs 91
4.6 Workforce localization: from a bottom- up strategy
to a top- down discourse 94
4.7 Conclusion: African managers – another real
Chinese business advantage 96
5 Chinese expats: social promotion and localization
in West Africa 101
5.1 Dynamics of spatial- social mobility 102
5.2 Overview of Chinese SOE expats in Benin
and Ghana 103
5.3 Expatriation in Africa and fulfi lling social roles
in China 106
5.4 Africa, the best alternative 109
5.5 Intersection with SOE globalization- localization
and expatriation- migration in Africa 112
5.6 Globalization and expatriation: the limits
of social mobility 116
5.7 Conclusion: the paradox of social promotion
and localization 118
Contents vii
6 Competing for the “Chinese community”:
Chinese managerial agency 121
6.1 Imagined Chinese community in Africa:
a stigmatized concept 122
6.2 Not the same Chinese: who are s uzhi di
(of low quality)? 123
6.3 Localized SOEs and Chinese expats: creating visible
space and institutions for social differentiation 126
6.4 Building the Chinese community: dynamics between
the Chinese Embassy and Chinese SOEs 132
6.5 Localized SOEs and expats: a new Chinese
community leader 138
6.6 Conclusion: asserting (image) control and emerging power
dynamics between the Chinese state and its SOEs 143
7 Conclusion: second- class Chinese globalizations
in West Africa 148
7.1 A triple embeddedness approach 148
7.2 Reconceptualizing Chinese business advantages 151
7.3 Toward second- class Chinese globalizations in
West Africa 153
Bibliography 156
Index 166
Figures
1.1 Map of West Africa 10
1.2 Map of Benin 11
1.3 Map of Ghana 12
4.1 Ghanaian workers and a Pakistani technician of Sinohydro 77
Tables
2.1 List of Chinese construction SOEs active in Ghana as of 2014 20
2.2 List of Chinese construction SOEs (active/used to be active)
in Benin as of 2015 30
3.1 Business activities of some Chinese SOEs in Ghana 50
5.1 Minimum wage across Chinese provinces in early 2013 108