Challenges for foreign companies in China: implications for research and practice

Abstract

As a large country with great development potential, China has been one of the most popular foreign direct investment destinations. However, foreign companies increasingly face a variety of challenges especially during the "soft-landing" of the Chinese economy and amidst anti-globalization tendency. Based on a comprehensive review of the extant literature, we provide a critical overview of some of the key challenges for foreign companies in China, focusing on two challenges related to the business environment, namely regulatory and cultural challenges, and two management challenges, namely innovation and human resource management. We provide managerial implications and outline directions for future research.